New York Daily News

Prince’s sex accuser seeking Brits’ help in finding witness

- BY MOLLY CRANE-NEWMAN

Lawyers for a woman who accuses Jeffrey Epstein pal Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her want British authoritie­s’ help tracking down a witness who saw her with Andrew decades ago.

Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers on Friday asked Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan to seek help from the Senior Master of the Royal Courts of London to find the witness, Shukri Walker.

Giuffre says Walker saw her with Andrew at a London night club before he abused her in March 2001. She wants her lawyers to depose Walker as part of her lawsuit against the British royal.

“Because Prince Andrew has denied ever meeting [Giuffre] or being at Tramp Nightclub during the relevant time period, Ms. Walker’s testimony is highly relevant,” Giuffre’s lawyer Sigrid McCawley wrote the judge.

Walker’s lawyer Lisa Bloom — who represents several Epstein victims — told the FBI in August 2020 that her client could corroborat­e Giuffre’s claim that she was at the nightclub with Andrew, according to The Guardian.

Giuffre claims Ghislaine Maxwell was there, too. Maxwell was convicted Dec. 29 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.

Giuffre claims Andrew sexually abused her that night after

they left the club.

Giuffre also wants the court

to work with English authoritie­s to locate the Duke of York’s onetime assistant — or “equerry,” in royal speak — Robert Olney.

“Plaintiff has reason to believe that Mr. Olney has relevant informatio­n about Prince Andrew’s relationsh­ip with Jeffrey Epstein, as Mr. Olney’s name appears in publicly available copies of Epstein’s phone book,” reads the Friday filing by Giuffre.

The requests come at the end of a catastroph­ic week for Andrew. On Thursday, his mother, Queen Elizabeth, stripped him of his military and royal patronages and said he would defend himself in Giuffre’s suit as a private citizen.

The Queen’s stunning rebuke came a day after Kaplan ruled Giuffre’s sex abuse case against her son could proceed. The jurist did not rule on the merits of Giuffre’s claims.

Now 38, Giuffre says Andrew raped and sexually assaulted her when she was 17 and being trafficked worldwide for sex by Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell as he awaited trial, and Maxwell.

Andrew has denied all allegation­s and claims he’s never even met his accuser despite a widely-circulated image of him standing with his arm around the small of a teenage Giuffre’s back. Maxwell stands behind them smiling.

Andrew’s lawyers did not respond to the Daily News’ request for comment. Bloom could not immediatel­y be reached.

 ?? ?? Prince Andrew smiling as he stands with his left arm around the waist of a young Virginia Giuffre. It is alleged to have been taken in early 2001. Ghislaine Maxwell stands behind.
Prince Andrew smiling as he stands with his left arm around the waist of a young Virginia Giuffre. It is alleged to have been taken in early 2001. Ghislaine Maxwell stands behind.

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