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The Yorks

Fresh documents filed in US court against Prince Andrew

The woman who has accused Prince Andrew of having sex with her when she was underage has spoken about the accusations in her own words for the first time in newly released US court papers.

Virginia Roberts, or Jane Doe #3 as she is known in the court documents, claims she was forced to have sex with The Duke of York by his former friend, Jeffrey Epstein, in 2001 – when she was 17 years old.

Ms Roberts claims that when she met the prince she was aware that he was a member of The Royal Family, but knew him only as “Andy”.

Her lawyers said they had written to Prince Andrew asking him to respond under oath in court to the allegations. They say the letter was sent back to them as it had been refused by the recipient.

“I did have sexual contact with him as I have described here under oath. Given what he knows and has seen, I was hoping that he would simply voluntarily tell the truth about everything. I hope my attorneys can interview Prince Andrew under oath about the contacts and that he will tell the truth.”

The Prince, who has strongly denied the claims, will make his first public appearance on Thursday since the allegations emerged, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Buckingham Palace strenuously denies the allegations. In earlier statements, the Palace described them as “categorically untrue”, “false” and “without any foundation”, denying “any form of sexual contact or relationship”.

In 2011 The Duke was forced to step down as the UK’s trade envoy amid controversy over his friendship with Epstein.

Mr Epstein, a former American financer, was convicted for sex offences in 2008 and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. He was released in 2009 after serving 13 months of his sentence and is now a registered sex offender.

It is expected that Andrew will publicly comment on the allegations in Davos later. Royal Central will bring you any developments.

Featured photo credit: Siim Teller via photopin cc