05 January 2024 , 10:51
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Prince Andrew has been reported to the police over allegations made in newly released Jeffrey Epstein court documents.
The Duke of York has been accused of an orgy with underage girls and touching a woman’s breast while posing with a puppet of himself in the first batch of some 1,000 pages released earlier this week. The claims have been strenuously denied by Andrew.
And a new tranche of 300 pages of legal papers again relating to Epstein were released on Thursday where accusations were made that Andrew sexually assaulted a minor in London. The claims likely refer to those made by Ms Guiffre previously – which were settled by Andrew in a US vicil court with no admission of liability on his part – but a campaign group has now said it raises “serious questions” and wants answers with the royals appearing “beyond the law”.
The documents – part of a case against Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – have thrust Andrew back into the spotlight. They do not reveal any major new allegations about Epstein or his associates.
Graham Smith, Republic’s CEO, stated: "I have reported Andrew to the police, well aware that the Met claims to have looked into this before. To date there appears to have been no serious criminal investigation, no interview of the accused or other witnesses and no clear justification for taking no action.
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"I am calling on the Met police to re-open this case, I am calling on MPs to debate this affair in parliament, and I am calling on Charles to make a public statement - in front of the press and taking questions - to respond to these allegations and what they say about the monarchy."
Undated photo issued by the US Department of Justice of the Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell (PA)Prince Andrew has been mentioned 67 times in the unsealed documents about Epstein along with other high-profile names and there is no suggestion that they new about his crimes or participated in any way.
The documents being unsealed are part of a 2015 lawsuit filed against Ghislaine Maxwell by one of Epstein's victims, Ms Giuffre. She is one of dozens of women who sued Epstein saying he had abused them at his homes in Florida, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and New Mexico.
Ms Giuffre said the summer she turned 17, she was lured away from a job as a spa attendant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club to become a "masseuse" for Epstein - a job that involved performing sexual acts.
Ms Giuffre also claimed she was pressured by Epstein into having sex with men in his social orbit, including Prince Andrew, the former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell and the billionaire Glenn Dubin, among others. All of those men denied her claims.
In 2022 Giuffre agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew after alleging in a US civil case that she was forced by Epstein to have sex with him three times when she was 17. The settlement is not an admission of guilt and Andrew continues to deny any wrongdoing. That same year, Giuffre withdrew an accusation she had made against Epstein's former attorney, the law professor Alan Dershowitz, saying she " may have made a mistake " in identifying him as an abuser.
A Met Police spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the release of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein. As with any matter, should new and relevant information be brought to our attention we will assess it. No investigation has been launched."