‘Only one of us is telling the truth’
The woman who alleges she was trafficked to London to have sex with the Duke of York has dismissed his denials as ‘‘ridiculous excuses’’ that he knows are untrue.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre issued a rebuttal to the duke’s Newsnight interview in which he claimed he had no recollection of meeting her and denied sleeping with her.
The interview backfired and resulted in him effectively being sacked as a working royal while charities and patronages flocked to end their association with him.
But in her first UK television interview, broadcast yesterday, Roberts Giuffre told the BBC’S Panorama: ‘‘The people on the inside are going to keep coming up with these ridiculous excuses. Like his arm was elongated or the photo was doctored, or, uh, he came to New York to break up with Jeffrey Epstein.
‘‘I mean come on I’m calling BS (bullshit) on this, because that’s what it is. He knows what happened. I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.’’
Roberts Giuffre, who is now married and lives in Australia, added: ‘‘I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me, to help me fight this fight, to not accept this as being OK.
‘‘This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked. This is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guys’ royalty.’’
Roberts Giuffre, 35, claims she was trafficked to the UK in 2001 by Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, and was forced to have sex with the duke on three occasions in 2001 and 2002, when she was 17.
She was interviewed by Panorama three weeks before the Duke’s interview was broadcast last month but was then reinterviewed for her response.
It has been suggested that the duke agreed to the Newsnight interview in order to get his version of events across first.
A photograph purports to show the Duke standing with his arm around Roberts Giuffre’s waist in 2001.
In the background is Ghislaine Maxwell, his close friend, who has been accused of acting as a madam for Jeffrey Epstein. The image was taken at her house in London’s Belgravia where, on the same night, Roberts Giuffre claims she was forced to sleep with the Duke.
Roberts Giuffre poured scorn on any suggestions it had been faked, telling Panorama the picture was genuine and that she had handed the original to the FBI in 2011. – Telegraph Group
‘‘I mean come on I’m calling BS on this, because that’s what it is. He knows what happened. I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.’’
Virginia Roberts Giuffre