Andrew fights back with a Davos denial
Prince’s bid to bury underage ‘sex slave’ claims with dramatic TV appearance... at meeting of world’s top power-brokers
PRINCE ANDREW will speak publicly for the first time this week about claims that he abused an underage girl introduced to him by his friend, the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In the first example of a senior Royal discussing intimate details of their private lives since Princess Diana’s sensational Panorama interview in 1995, the Duke of York will take the highly unusual step of facing a TV camera to deny the allegations levelled against him.
His intervention will come in front of around 300 captains of industry and politicians as he hosts his annual British business reception at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
Normally the event is off-limits to the media, but this year the Prince will invite a TV camera into the drinks party as he issues a further denial of the claims that he had sex three times with the then 17-yearold Florida schoolgirl Virginia Roberts in London, New York and the Virgin Islands in 2001.
Buckingham Palace has previously issued strong denials on the Prince’s behalf – but this will be the first time he has spoken out personally.
Andrew’s speech at the five-star Belvedere Hotel in Davos will be largely aimed at promoting UK entrepreneurs, but friends of the Prince told The Mail on Sunday that he recognises the Epstein affair will be ‘the elephant in the room’ and must be addressed.
He also wants to answer critics who have called into question his unofficial role on behalf of British business, especially since he was forced to step down from a ‘special envoy’ post four years ago because of his association with Epstein.
‘This will hopefully be a chance for Prince Andrew to draw a line under the Epstein business and move on,’ said a friend. ‘He accepts that his judgment has been questioned in the coverage surrounding the lawsuits and he wants to do two things in the speech.
‘First he will reiterate the denial which has already gone out from Buckingham Palace. He wants to put this behind him and he realises that if he didn’t address the allegations, then his message about entrepreneurship might get lost.
‘He also wants to put into context the work he’s been carrying out in the last year, which is promoting entrepreneurship in this country.’
As Andrew prepared to travel to Davos, one of his closest friends, Dragon’s Den star and entrepreneur Peter Jones, issued the first public support for the beleaguered Prince, hailing him as an ‘unsung hero’ in his work for British business.
‘I think he has fairly broad shoulders, but it must hurt personally that he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,’ said Mr Jones. ‘He knows how much work he does and I think he’d want to shout from the rooftops, but he’s not a publicist.
‘You’re almost doomed before you start with any level of accusation, but the work he does is incredibly important to this country. We forget sometimes that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.’
This week’s reception will give three young entrepreneurs who were finalists in a Pitch@Palace competition the chance to speak to the assembled tycoons. Another of the Prince’s pet projects, iDEA, supports 14 to 25-year-olds in developing digital business ventures.
Despite such initiatives, Andrew came under fire from former Home Office Minister Norman Baker, who said the ‘unofficial’ overseas visits could damage British interests, adding: ‘When MPs go abroad, or Ministers, or indeed the Queen, we know exactly what role they are undertaking. We don’t know with Andrew.’
He said that some of the Prince’s connections are ‘not [what] someone representing Britain ought to be having’.
A Palace spokesman said Andrew would be at Davos to ‘remind the audience of the strength and dynamism of UK entrepreneurship’.
‘He knows his judgment
has been questioned’