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| Prince Andrew, the eighth in line to the throne, has come in for heavy criticism over his links to Epstein who died in custody in the US in August (AFP Photo/ Lillian SUWANRUMPHA) |
London (AFP) - Britain's Prince Andrew has said he does not remember meeting Virginia Roberts, one of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims, who claims she was forced to have sex with the royal.
But Andrew
admitted in an interview with the BBC due to be broadcast on Saturday that his
decision to remain friends with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting
prostitution from a minor was a serious error of judgement.
"I
have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever," Andrew
told BBC interviewer Emily Maitlis, according to extracts from "Prince
Andrew and the Epstein Scandal" released ahead of the programme airing.
Andrew, 59,
the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and eighth in line to the throne, has been
heavily criticised over his links to multimillionaire Epstein, who died in
custody in the US in August.
A
photograph apparently showing Andrew with his arm around then 17-year-old
Roberts, now Giuffre, and with Epstein's friend Ghislaine Maxwell standing in
the background, has been widely published. Supporters of Andrew, however, have
disputed its authenticity.
Epstein
pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a girl under the age of 18 for prostitution
and served 13 months in a US prison before being released on probation.
He was
arrested in July on new federal charges that he trafficked girls as young as 14
for sex, but was found dead in New York's high-security Metropolitan
Correctional Center on August 10 as he awaited trial.
A coroner
ruled that he committed suicide by hanging.
'The
wrong thing to do'
The BBC
interview is the first time Andrew has answered questions on his relationship
with Epstein. In 2015, he used a public appearance at Davos in Switzerland to
deny the claims.
Pressed
over the fact that he remained friends with the disgraced financier after his
conviction, even staying at his Manhattan townhouse, Andrew said he regretted
the decision.
"It
was a convenient place to stay," the prince added.
"I
have gone through this in my mind so many times. At the end of the day, with
the benefit of all the hindsight one can have, it was definitely the wrong
thing to do.
"But
at the time I felt it was the honourable and right thing to do."
Andrew went
on to concede it was "not something that was becoming of a member of the
royal family".
"We
try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down,
simple as that," he told Maitlis of the BBC's Newsnight programme.
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| A coroner ruled that Epstein committed suicide by hanging (AFP Photo) |
'Sex
slave' claim
Over the
years Epstein, 66, hobnobbed with politicians, socialites and celebrities,
including Donald Trump before he was president, and Bill Clinton.
After his
death Giuffre, who says she was abused by Epstein for years and farmed out to
his wealthy friends including Andrew, said "the reckoning must not end, it
must continue".
She has
alleged she was forced to have sex with the prince three times, an allegation
he has strongly denied.
"He
knows exactly what he's done and I hope he comes clean about it," she told
reporters after a US hearing on August 27 at which other alleged Epstein
victims also described how they were abused.
Giuffre
previously testified that she was forced to have sex with Andrew in London in
2001 when she was 17. She said she had sex with him again in New York and on
Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.
But the
allegations were struck from the record by a US judge in 2015, who said the
"lurid details" were not needed to decide a civil case concerning
Epstein.
She has
filed a lawsuit in the US accusing Epstein of using her as a "sex
slave".
'Real
gentleman'
Buckingham
Palace has strenuously denied the claims, calling them "false and without
foundation".
In August,
it issued a statement after a video emerged purporting to show Andrew at
Epstein's New York home in 2010 waving goodbye to a woman leaving the property.
"His
Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion
he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is
abhorrent," the statement said.
Sarah
Ferguson, Andrew's ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters, also defended
the embattled royal ahead of Saturday's interview broadcast.
"Andrew
is a true (and) real gentleman and is stoically steadfast to not only his duty
but also his kindness," she wrote on Twitter.
Britain's Prince Andrew provoked a backlash Sunday following an extraordinary TV interview branded "disastrous" by public relations experts in which he denied having sex with an alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinhttps://t.co/rLEUWi1S69 pic.twitter.com/RJKFO45lbH— AFP news agency (@AFP) 17 november 2019
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