New evidence from one of Prince Andrew’s accusers is due to be presented in a US court this week.
The legal documents relate to Johanna Sjoberg and could reveal more details of her alleged encounter with the royal.
Ms Sjoberg has previously claimed the King’s brother put his hand on her breast at the Manhattan home of multi-millionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2001.
She alleged this happened during an incident in which a latex Spitting Image puppet of the Duke of York – a present from Epstein’s then-lover Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch the breast of Virginia Roberts.
Ms Roberts, who now uses her married name Giuffre, claimed that afterwards she and Andrew slept together at Epstein’s house.
New evidence from one of Prince Andrew’s accusers is due to be presented in a US court this week. The legal documents relate to Johanna Sjoberg and could reveal more details of her alleged encounter with the royal. The Duke of York is pictured in April 2024
Ms Sjoberg (pictured) has previously claimed the King’s brother put his hand on her breast at the Manhattan home of multi-millionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2001. She alleged this happened during an incident in which a latex Spitting Image puppet of the Duke of York – a present from Epstein’s then-lover Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch the breast of Virginia Roberts
The duke paid a reported £12million settlement to Ms Roberts in 2022 over her claims that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, which he has always denied.
During his notorious Newsnight interview in 2019 he said he had no recollection of ever meeting Ms Roberts. The new material is part of hundreds of files from more than 170 people who were associates, friends or victims of Epstein which New York Judge Loretta Preska ruled should be made public.
Ms Roberts’ lawyer Sigrid McCawley calls the new material ‘disturbing testimony corroborating what lies at the core of this case – Maxwell was involved in facilitating the sexual abuse of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein’.
The files were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Roberts against Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls.
That was settled out of court but media outlets successfully fought to have the documents made public. They have been released on a rolling basis since 2019.
The 30-page summary of Ms Sjoberg’s evidence is expected to be unsealed this week alongside claims about a hidden Maxwell email account, which reportedly could reveal details of her conversations with Andrew, 63.
The files were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Roberts against Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls. Maxwell and Epstein are pictured together in an undated evidence photo obtained by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2021
Ms Sjoberg, now a hairdresser, 42, living in Florida, has previously said Maxwell recruited her to provide massages for Epstein in 2001 when she was at college. Recalling the Spitting Image puppet incident, Ms Sjoberg said in a deposition given under oath in 2016: ‘I remember someone suggesting a photo and they told us to get on the couch. Virginia and Andrew sat on the couch and they put the puppet on her lap.
‘And so I sat on Andrew’s lap, I believe of my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast and so Andrew put his on mine.’
She said it was all done in ‘a joking manner’. According to her previous accounts, the prince, while being inappropriately tactile, had not caused offence.
Andrew denies all wrongdoing.
Epstein, 66, hanged himself in jail while being held on child sex trafficking charges in 2019. Maxwell, 62, was given 20 years in 2022 for helping him abuse girls.