Prince Andrew set to be named in court papers relating to Jeffrey Epstein - but will not face another sex assault trial
2 January 2024, 09:54
Prince Andrew is set to be named today in court papers relating to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
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But the king's eldest brother has avoided a further costly sexual assault claim after second accuser Johanna Sjoberg failed to meet a legal deadline.
This has saved Andrew from becoming embroiled in a second civil case in New York, the first of which cost him a reported £12million in an out-of-court settlement to Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew and former US President Bill Clinton are understood to be on a list of 170 names which will be released in New York.
Dozens of other famous Epstein associates were bracing themselves for the release of the list, including billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates and and former Israeli PM Ehud Barak.
Andrew has been named in evidence as part of “teen sex slave” Ms Giuffre’s defamation case against Epstein’s former lover, the jailed British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Now, testimony from more than 170 people is set to be made public. Judge Loretta Preska, who has overseen the now-settled defamation case, ruled: “This material should be unsealed.”
Sources close to the Duke say he is "mightily relieved" Ms Sjoberg's deadline has passed and wants to rebuild his image.
In recent weeks he has been seen accompanying the Royal Family, including his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, at events such as Christmas Day Mass in Sandringham.
Ms Sjoberg has previously claimed the King's brother put his hand on her breast at the Manhattan home of multi-millionaire paedophile Epstein in 2001.
She alleged this happened during an incident in which a latex Spitting Image puppet of the Duke of York – a present from Epstein's then-lover Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch the breast of Virginia Roberts.
The new material is part of hundreds of files from more than 170 people who were associates, friends or victims of Epstein which New York Judge Preska ruled should be made public.
Ms Roberts' lawyer Sigrid McCawley calls the new material "disturbing testimony corroborating what lies at the core of this case – Maxwell was involved in facilitating the sexual abuse of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein".
The files were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Roberts against Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls.
That was settled out of court but media outlets successfully fought to have the documents made public. They have been released on a rolling basis since 2019.
The 30-page summary of Ms Sjoberg's evidence is expected to be unsealed this week alongside claims about a hidden Maxwell email account, which reportedly could reveal details of her conversations with Andrew, 63.
Ms Sjoberg, now a hairdresser, 42, living in Florida, has previously said Maxwell recruited her to provide massages for Epstein in 2001 when she was at college.
Recalling the Spitting Image puppet incident, Ms Sjoberg said in a deposition given under oath in 2016: "I remember someone suggesting a photo and they told us to get on the couch. Virginia and Andrew sat on the couch and they put the puppet on her lap.
"And so I sat on Andrew's lap, I believe of my own volition, and they took the puppet's hands and put it on Virginia's breast and so Andrew put his on mine.
"She said it was all done in 'a joking manner".
According to her previous accounts, the prince, while being inappropriately tactile, had not caused offence.
Andrew has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing.
Epstein, 66, hanged himself in jail while being held on child sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Maxwell, 62, was given 20 years in 2022 for helping him abuse girls.
