The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Do the right thing’ lawyer urges duke
Alawyer who is representing alleged victims of Je ffre y Epstein has branded it “outrageous” that a year has passed since the Duke of York publicly promised to co- operate with the US authorities.
Prince Andrew – the Q u e e n’s second son – stepped down from public life on November 20 2019, following the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Epstein.
The duke was criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards the paedophile’s victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with the disgraced financier, who took his own life while in prison last year.
On the first anniversary of the duke quitting royal duties, Lisa Bloom, who represents six of Epstein’s alleged victims, called on Andrew to submit to an interview with the FBI as they investigate the duke’s friend, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell who is accused of procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse.
Ms Bloom said it was “never too late to do the right thing”.
In the Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis, the duke denied claims he slept with Virginia Giuffre, who says she was t r a ff i c ke d by
Epstein, on three occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.
The duke, in a statement released on his parents’ wedding anniversary last year, said that the Queen had given her permission for him to bow out of royal duties for the “foreseeable future”.
Prince Andrew added he continued to “unequivocally regret my ill-judged association” with Epstein and pledged to help “any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
Ms Bloom said: “How outrageous that it’s been a year since Prince Andrew publicly promised to cooperate with law enforcement investigating all those who enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual assaults on hundreds of women and girls.
“He simply has not kept that promise. Meanwhile, the six victims I represent struggle to repair their lives.
“We implore Prince Andrew to submit to an interview with the FBI investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell and other accused co- conspirators, to tell what he knows, to turn over documents and evidence, and to instruct his staff to do so as well.
“It is never too late to do the right thing.”
A spokeswoman for the duke’s lawyers declined to comment.