PRINCE SAYS HE HAS ALIBI...AND COULDN’T SWEAT AS GIRL CLAIMS
PRINCE Andrew last night said he could not have slept with teenager Virginia Roberts when she claims – because he took his daughter Beatrice for a pizza in Woking on that day.
The Duke of York added that he spent the rest of the evening at home with both his children during a period of leave from the Royal Navy.
So he says he could not have been dancing at a nightclub in London before being intimate with his accuser, who was then aged 17.
In a TV interview, the Prince issued his first detailed public explanation of his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – and a series of point-bypoint denials of the allegations by Ms Roberts.
He told the BBC Two Newsnight special: Prince Andrew And The Epstein Scandal that he has “absolutely no recollection” of having met Ms Roberts, who is now a 35-year-old mother known by her married last name of Giuffre.
He also said he has a medical condition – caused by an overdose of adrenaline during the Falklands War – that prevented him from sweating at all, rather than “profusely” as his accuser claims.
Andrew said he has “absolutely no memory” of the taking of a photograph purporting to show him with his arm around Ms Roberts’s waist – an image he believes may have been faked.
Asked by interviewer Emily Maitlis about his movements on March 10, 2001 – the alleged date of his tryst with Ms Roberts – Andrew declared: “I’ve no recollection of ever meeting her.
“On that particular day… I was at home, I was with the children and I’d taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking at, I suppose, sort of four or five in the afternoon. And then, because the
Duchess was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other is there.
“I was on terminal leave at the time from the Royal Navy so therefore I was at home.”
In a sworn affidavit in the US, Ms Roberts has previously
claimed she and Andrew danced at London nightclub Tramp and later had sex at the home of Epstein’s trusted friend, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Newsnight presenter said: “She was very specific about that night. She described dancing with
you…” Prince Andrew interjected: “No,” but his interviewer continued: “and you, profusely sweating, and that she went on to have a bath possibly.”
The prince replied: “There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical
On sex claims “On that particular day… I was at home, I was with the children and I’d taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking.”
On sweating “There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat.”
On Virginia Roberts “I’ve no recollection of ever meeting her.”
The photo with Virginia “You can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked or not... I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken.”
On spotting signs of abuse “I was Patron of the NSPCC’S Full Stop campaign so I was close up with what was going on in those times about getting rid of abuse so I knew what the things were to look for but I never saw them.”
‘We never had any sexual contact’
condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time and that was….was it…..yes, I didn’t sweat because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply...it was almost impossible for me to sweat.
“And it’s only because I have done a number of things in the recent past that I am starting to be able to do that again.
“So I’m afraid to say that there’s a medical condition that says I didn’t do it. So therefore…”
Of the infamous photo, that purportedly shows the Prince putting his arm around Ms Roberts’s waist with Ms Maxwell smiling in the background, the Duke of York insisted: “Again, I have no memory of that photograph ever being taken.”
Ms Maitlis said: “Do you recognise yourself in the photo?”
Prince Andrew replied: “Yes, it’s pretty difficult not to recognise yourself.” Maitlis added: “Your friends suggested that the photo is fake.” The Duke said: “I think it’s... from the investigations that we’ve done, you can’t prove whether or not that photograph is faked because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph.
“So it’s very difficult to be able to prove it, but I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken.”
Asked if his accuser is lying about their London tryst – as well as others she claims took place at Epstein’s New York mansion and private Caribbean island – the Duke of York responds: “That’s a very difficult thing to answer because I’m not in a position to know what she’s trying to achieve.
“But I can tell you categorically, I don’t remember meeting her at all. I do not remember a photograph being taken and I’ve said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever.”
Andrew also denied allegations made in a sworn affidavit by one of Epstein’s former housekeepers, who told lawyers that the prince visited the Wall Street tycoon’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida, around four times a year and enjoyed daily massages during his stays.
Ms Maitlis asked pointedly: “Is there a chance that those massages might have been the services of someone who is being sexually exploited or trafficked by Epstein?”
Andrew said: “No, I don’t think...i mean I…NO, definitely not, definitely not and I definitely did not visit his Palm Beach house three or four times a year – absolutely not.”
Epstein, a convicted paedophile, was found dead in his US prison cell on August 10. Authorities ruled that the financier had killed himself, although his lawyers dispute this.