Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview in which he denied meeting a woman accusing him of sexual assault provides evidence of his ‘guilt’, court papers claim.
In documents filed in New York on Monday night, Virginia Roberts furiously hit back at the Duke of York’s attacks on her credibility after he accused her of launching a civil lawsuit in the US in pursuit of ‘another payday’.
Miss Roberts, who now uses the married name Giuffre, claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the prince three times – in New York, London and the US Virgin Islands when she was 17 in 2001.
Unspecified damages were awarded to the duke by her in August.
Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts (aged 17) were photographed at GhislaineMaxwell’s London Townhouse, March 13, 2001.
According to the latest file, Andrew stated that Miss Roberts was not in his mind when he sat down for an interview with Emily Maitlis on November 19, 2019.
Referring to a now-notorious photograph of the duke with his arm allegedly around the waist of Miss Roberts in a townhouse in Belgravia, London, belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell, David Boies, Miss Roberts’s attorney, said the denial was ‘so at odds with photographs and other evidence that it is itself indicative of guilt’.
In an attempt to have the case thrown out at an early stage, his legal team accused Miss Roberts of ‘profiting’ from her accusations for years.
But responding this week, lawyers for Miss Roberts said Andrew was trying to ‘avoid confronting his own misconduct’ by ‘attempting to blame and shame his victim’.
They added that, at the time of the alleged abuse, Miss Roberts feared she would be ‘killed’ if she did not do as the duke, Epstein and his alleged accomplice Maxwell ordered.
Outlining the acts said to have taken place at homes belonging to Epstein, Mr Boies wrote in a 45-page filing: ‘Prince Andrew sexually abused Mrs Giuffre on a number of occasions when she was under the age of 18 including at Epstein’s New York mansion, where Prince Andrew touched Mrs Giuffre while Ghislaine Maxwell forced Mrs Giuffre and another victim to sit on his lap, and then forced Mrs Giuffre to engage in sex acts with him.
‘During each incident, Mrs Giuffre did not consent to engaging in any sexual activity with Prince Andrew, but she feared she would be harmed, and even killed, if she disobeyed Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew.’
Miss Roberts (pictured), who now uses the married name Giuffre, claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the prince three times – in New York, London and the US Virgin Islands when she was 17 in 2001
He added: ‘During each incident, Prince Andrew knew that the plaintiff was a victim of sex trafficking, and intended to compel her into submission to gratify his own sexual desires.’
Andrew’s strongly-worded motion to dismiss the lawsuit, filed in October, accused Miss Roberts of ‘peddling… increasingly salacious and inconsistent accounts’ and ‘milking publicity for all she could’.
In response, Mr Boies said the filing had been used as a ‘press release’ for the prince to attack his accuser and such ‘baseless, defamatory’ comments could only be made in a lawsuit because otherwise Miss Roberts could sue for libel.
The prince’s lawyers, in trying to dismiss the case, have previously pointed out that Miss Roberts did not allege any sexual conduct until she joined a lawsuit in 2014.
Prince Andrew’s (pictured) disastrous Newsnight interview in which he denied meeting a woman accusing him of sexual assault provides evidence of his ‘guilt’, court papers claim
She did not make any sexual contact with Epstein before this, despite numerous interviews in the newspaper about it.
However, Miss Roberts’s claim added: ‘She alleges that Prince Andrew forced her to engage in sex acts without her consent and abused another victim in front of her, all while knowing she was underage and that she was a sex-trafficking victim.’
It added: ‘Especially considering the power and influence that Prince Andrew holds, he cannot contend that such conduct is not extreme and outrageous.’
Andrew denied all allegations.
A spokesperson for Prince Charles declined to comment last night. His legal team is expected to reply to the filing.
The duke has until December 13 to file a motion for dismissal. A hearing is scheduled for January.