Britain’s Prince Andrew has been asked to testify under oath about allegations he "sexually abused" a teenager.
Lawyers acting for Virginia Roberts – a 31-year-old woman who claims she was a "sex slave" to the prince’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when she was just 17 – wrote to Buckingham Palace through an intermediary law firm last week to ask the 54-year-old royal to tell his side of the story after their client claimed she was forced to have sex with him three times.
The letter, addressed to ‘Your Royal Highness’, was accompanied by a picture of Andrew with his arm around Virginia’s waist in 2001 when she was 17.
It said: "This letter is a formal request … to interview you, under oath, regarding interactions that you had with Jane Doe No 3 beginning in approximately early 2001. Jane Doe No 3 was then 17 years old.
"The interview could be conducted at a time and place of your choosing, and with your co-operation, I believe the interview could be completed in two hours or less."
It is signed by Jack Scarola, an attorney acting on behalf of Ms Roberts’ two main lawyers, Bradley Edwards and Paul Cassell.
The letter asked for a response by January 19 but Buckingham Palace wouldn’t say if there had been a reply or whether the prince had consented to be interviewed.
The note was submitted with court papers in Florida by Virginia, and the woman also gave a sworn affidavit in which she said Buckingham Palace’s previous denials of her accusations were "false and hurtful".
She also revealed she referred to the prince as "Andy" and again insisted they had had sex.
She said: "I did have sexual contact with him [Prince Andrew] as I have described here – under oath.
"Given what he knows and has seen, I was hoping that he would simply voluntarily tell the truth about everything. I hope my attorneys can interview Prince Andrew under oath about the contacts and that he will tell the truth."
Prince Andrew asked to testify
