Amid the shocking allegations of a seventies pedophile ring in Westminster, comes another upper-crust scandal; this time traversing countries instead of decades. A federal court in Florida heard last week that the Duke of York may have been involved in an underage prostitution ring. A damning complaint was filed against the Prince by a girl under the pseudonym ‘Virginia Roberts’ in which she alleged to have been exploited as his “sex-slave” at the age of seventeen.
Roberts alleged that the Prince was a client to whom she was passed as part of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s chum-building prostitution service. American citizen Epstein, who has previously pled guilty to solicitation, is known to be close friends with the Duke where their friendship has been placed under scrutiny before. Sky Roberts, father of the teenage girl at the centre of the controversy told ‘The Sun’ in an interview: "Virginia told me a few years back that she met Prince Andrew when she went to London (…) She also said while they were there she met the Queen (…) She had been flown to London by Jeffrey [Epstein]. He would fly her all over the world and she would give him massages on his private jet.”
Despite the heated evidence, both Buckingham Palace and Andrew’s ex-wife have jumped to the defence of the besieged Prince who has also denied the charges in public. The Duchess of York, 55, determinedly took time out of a Swiss mountain break to support her husband with whom she has a family: “I will say it was the finest moment of my life in 1986 when I married him (…) He is a great man, the best man in the world. The York family are a tight unit, we always have been a tight unit. He is the greatest man there is.” Buckingham Palace also insisted that there is no record of a meeting with a ‘Virginia Roberts’ and said: “"It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
The Prince is one of a long list of high-standing and influential persons who Roberts has named as part of her sexual services under Epstein. The statement given in the Florida Court-room, details stories of being made to socialise and have sex with many prominent men such as high-profile U.S lawyer and Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz in a bid to strengthen Epstein's business ties. News of whether or not a trial will follow is yet to be announced with Dershowitz having no previous criminal charges and Roberts, father of Virginia, already detracting the claim that his daughter met with the Queen: “I want to clear up that many years ago Virginia stated to me she was to meet the Queen's son Prince Andrew and not the Queen herself. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding." As investigations continue, Prince Andrew has chosen not to respond with legal action.
