Strained Prince Andrew plays another round of golf at luxury holiday resort as Epstein rape accuser Virginia Roberts calls on him to ‘come clean’
A STRAINED looking Prince Andrew has been pictured playing golf as pressure mounts on him over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke of York has been urged to “come clean” by Virginia Roberts, a victim of the multi-millionaire paedophile, as she gave evidence at a special court hearing in New York.
Dressed in blue trousers, a cream polo shirt and a baseball cap, the Duke took to the course at the exclusive Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, southern .
The 59-year-old Duke flew out to the Costa del Sol last week with his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York, with whom he is still on good terms.
Meanwhile, 3600 miles away outside New York's Southern District court in Manhattan, Ms Roberts said of Andrew: “He knows what he has done and he can attest to that.
“He knows exactly what he's done - and I hope he comes clean about it.”
Roberts, who now goes by the surname Giuffre, alleges that she slept with the Duke of York three times – claims the royal vehemently denies.
In an unprecedented move, US District Judge Richard Berman let 16 of Epstein's alleged victims to give harrowing impact statements in person after prosecutors dropped charges against him following his suicide.
Virginia’s lawyer Brad Edwards said he had extended invitations to Andrew to answer "real questions" over the scandal.
Lawyers also tore into the Prince's denials over recent days - in which Andrew has insisted he had no knowledge of Epstein's perversions.
He knows exactly what he's done - and I hope he comes clean about it.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Mr Edwards said: “With respect to Prince Andrew or anyone else who has made a gratuitous statement, if anyone who wants to come over here and talk to us and answer real questions that the victims have and that we have on their behalf we welcome that.
“I’ve personally extended that invitation to Prince Andrew multiple times.
“Any time we are ready and we have a lot of questions for him.”
Another of Virginia’s lawyers, David Boies, added: “Anybody can deny things in a printed statement.
“It’s a different thing to come here, answer questions under oath, subject to cross examination.
"Those are the kinds of answers that we are eventually going to get.”
Mr Boies added that a civil lawsuit against Epstein's alleged "madam" Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015 – in which they secured a “substantial settlement” – could prove to be a “roadmap” for prosecution against her.
Brit socialite Maxwell - the daughter of disgraced publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell - has been in hiding since Epstein's death on August 10.
ROYAL DENIALS
Prince Andrew released a statement this week condemning his former pal - who he had been pictured staying with in New York in 2010.
Buckingham Palace said the Duke of York would help authorities in any investigations into the disgraced millionaire.
Andrew said: "It is apparent to me since the suicide of Mr Epstein that there has been an immense amount of media speculation about so much in his life.
"This is particularly the case in relation to my former association or friendship with Mr Epstein.
"Therefore I am eager to clarify the facts to avoid further speculation."
The statement added: "I met Mr Epstein in 1999. During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences.
"At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction."
A previous Buckingham Palace statement said: "The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes.
"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 royal denies any wrongdoing and the claims from Miss Roberts were later struck out of a lawsuit by a judge who branded them "immaterial".
HARROWING ACCOUNTS
Mum-of-three Miss Roberts, 36, who flew from her new home in Australia, was joined a succession of victims.
The women stood up at the two-and-a-half-hour hearing and told how Epstein had trapped them into performing massages on him – before abusing them.
Ten of the 16 women gave their names, while six did not.Lawyers also read statements from seven other women.
Victim Sarah Ransome said: “He showed the world what a depraved and cowardly human being he was by taking his own life.”
Imploring prosecutors to go after Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators, which allegedly include his sidekick Maxwell, she added: “Please, finish what you have started.”
Victim Jennifer Araoz, who says Epstein raped her, added: “The fact that I will never have a chance to face my predator in court eats away at my soul.”
Epstein, who once counted US President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton as friends, was arrested on July 6 and pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking girls as young as 14.
But the 66-year-old was found dead on August 10 in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan.
An autopsy concluded that he hanged himself.
Just two days before his death, Epstein signed a will placing all of his property, worth more than £470million, in a trust.
Who is Virginia Roberts?
- Mum-of-three Virginia Roberts , now Virginia Giuffre, 36, has alleged that she was procured Ghislaine Maxwell - Epstein’s ex-lover - to work as a 'sex slave'
- Ms Roberts alleges she met Ms Maxwell while working at Donald Trump's Mar-aLago resprt in Florida.
- Legal documents from a 2015 defamation case - released the day before Epstein killed himself - featured claims that Prince Andrew slept with Ms Roberts three times.
- The Duke of York strongly denies the allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.
- Giuffre says her account is '99 per cent true' but her own former lawyers have described it as 'fictionalised.'
- She claims she first met royal dad-of-two Prince Andrew on a trip to London in 2001 when she was 17 and Epstein and Maxwell were also there.
At the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said the law required the dismissal of the case in light of Epstein's death, but said the government's investigation was ongoing.
Comey said: "Dismissal of this indictment as to Jeffrey Epstein in no way prohibits or inhibits the government's ongoing investigation into potential co-conspirators."
Epstein's death has triggered probes by the FBI, the US Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General and the US Bureau of Prisons, which runs the detention facility.
The paedo’s arrest in New York came more than a decade after Epstein avoided being prosecuted on similar federal charges in Florida by striking a deal that allowed him to plead guilty to state prostitution charges.
That controversial deal resulted in Epstein serving 13 months in a county jail, which he was allowed to leave during the day on work release.
Multiple women have filed civil lawsuits against Epstein's estate since his death seeking damages for the alleged abuse they endured.
Some have claimed the abuse continued after his plea deal and even while he was on work release from his previous jail sentence.
Epstein had denied the charges and was being held in prison until his trial where he was facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
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