A lawyer for the victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has said that a woman has come forward claiming she saw the Duke of York alongside Virginia Giuffre Roberts at a London nightclub.
Prince Andrew has previously said that he was not in the Mayfair club Tramp with Ms Giuffre Roberts on March 10 2001, and was actually at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking with his daughter, Princess Beatrice.
Ms Giuffre Roberts alleges she met the Duke at the nightclub on March 10 2001 before having sex with him in Belgravia.
The Duke of York has always strongly denied these allegations.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight last November, when the allegations were put to him, Prince Andrew said: “That couldn’t have happened because the date being suggested — the 10th of March — I was at home with the children.
“I’d taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
“And then because the Duchess was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other is there.”
Interviewer Emily Maitlis asked the Duke how he could possibly remember something so specific from 18 years ago.
He replied: “Because going to Pizza Express in Woking is a very unusual thing for me to do.
“I’ve never been . . . I’ve only been to Woking a couple of times and I remember it weirdly distinctly. As soon as somebody reminded me of it, I went, ‘Oh yes I remember that’.”
However, Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, said a new witness has come forward supporting Ms Giuffre’s version of events.
Ms Bloom said Shukri Walker saw Prince Andrew at Tramp nightclub with Ms Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell has been charged with numerous offences, including trafficking minors for sex. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts and will go on trial in July 2021.
Ms Walker’s claims have been passed onto the FBI. Andrew has previously said that he is cooperating with US authorities in their investigation of Epstein.
