New witness speaks out about Prince Andrew
A new witness has come forward in the case against Prince Andrew, claiming she saw the Duke of York dancing with his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre in a London nightclub.
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents five women who say they were sexually assaulted by financier Jeffrey Epstein, said an unnamed witness saw Prince Andrew with Giuffre in London’s Tramp nightclub in 2001.
Bloom told a press conference in New York that the witness stepped on Prince Andrew’s foot by mistake while dancing next to him, and a friend told her who he was. The witness then noticed the prince was with a young girl that she later recognised from pictures as Giuffre.
Bloom said the witness stepped forward with the information because she was “incensed” that Prince Andrew had denied meeting Giuffre in his BBC Newsnight interview. “Because he is a very powerful person, she is in fear of the repercussions to her,” Bloom said on Wednesday.
“On behalf of my client, I have relayed the details of her story to the FBI, and she is ready, willing and able to speak to them when they are ready.”
In her interview with Panorama, Giuffre said she was in 2001 taken by Epstein and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to Tramp and introduced to Prince Andrew, who asked her to dance.
“He is the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life,” Giuffre said. “His sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere.”
Giuffre said after they left the club, Maxwell instructed her “to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey”. She alleged she had sex with Prince Andrew later that evening at Maxwell’s house in Belgrave.
The Duke has repeatedly denied having any form of sexual contact or relationship with Giuffre. He stepped back from his royal duties in November following backlash from his Newsnight interview.