Prince Andrew's Epstein Mansion Claims Have Been Called Into Question

During his infamous BBC Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew claimed he had not stayed at the New York mansion of the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. However, a report in the Daily Mail alleges that the Duke of York did in fact spend one night there during a three-day trip to the USA.

It was during this trip, in April of 2001, that Prince Andrew is alleged to have had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was 17 at the time, and claims to have been trafficked by Epstein.

The Duke of York has always vehemently denied these allegations. He says he does not remember meeting Giuffre, despite a photograph that appears to show the two of them with Epstein’s one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently facing child sex trafficking charges, for which she has plead not guilty.

During his BBC interview, Prince Andrew admitted that he might have visited Epstein’s property during his 2001 trip, but denied staying there. “I probably did [visit],” he told host Emily Maitlis. “Because of what I was doing, I was staying with the consul general, which is further down the street on Fifth, so I wasn’t… I wasn’t staying there. I may have visited, but definitely didn’t, definitely, definitely no, no, no activity.”

Citing an official itinerary and “well placed sources”, the Daily Mail reported that the Duke of York did in fact stay at Epstein’s mansion on the last night of his trip. The paper’s investigation also uncovered a gap in the Prince’s itinerary, for “private time”, which coincided roughly with the timeframe in which he is alleged to have slept with Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Neither of the two bodyguards who accompanied him on the trip were able to provide an explanation for what the Prince was doing during this period.

However, one of the paper’s sources stressed that neither Epstein, Giuffre nor Maxwell were at the New York property during the time the Prince stayed there.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Prince Andrew told the Mail, “It would not be appropriate to comment on any of these matters.” Asked about the Mail’s report by the Guardian, a spokeswoman said, “We are not issuing any comment. Nothing at all.” However, the Mail said it understands that Andrew now does recall staying at Epstein’s residence, “in order to save taxpayer’s money”. Miss Roberts’ representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Jeffrey Epstein was jailed in 2008 for procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. He was arrested again in July of 2019 and charged with sex trafficking, but died in his jail cell on the 10th of August. His death was ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner.