The Japan Times - New Epstein accuser claims sexual encounter with ex-prince Andrew: report

A US lawyer for the woman told the broadcaster late Saturday the alleged encounter occurred at the ousted royal's residence on the Windsor estate, west of London, in 2010 when she was in her 20s.

The latest account emerged after the US Justice department released a huge new batch of documents on the Epstein case, including photographs of Andrew kneeling over a woman lying on the floor. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the disgraced royal should accept requests to testify to the US Congress about Epstein's crimes.

Brad Edwards, from the Florida legal firm Edwards Henderson, said that after spending the night with Andrew, the woman said she was given a tour of Buckingham Palace.

"We're talking about at least one woman who was sent by Jeffrey Epstein over to Prince Andrew," Edwards told the BBC.

He said there were communications between his client and the former prince before the alleged encounter and that he is now considering filing a civil lawsuit on her behalf.

The lawyer, who reportedly represents more than 200 survivors of Epstein abuse, did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Andrew could not be reached for comment but has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein.

The claim comes more than a decade after sexual assault accusations against the ex-Duke of York by another Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre, first emerged publicly.

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen who took her own life last year, has alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was 17.

After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

King Charles III stripped his brother of his royal titles and honours late last year after Giuffre recounted the claims in shocking detail in a posthumous memoir.

Andrew, 65, had already stepped back from royal duties in 2019 over the accusations and his Epstein ties.

The former prince maintained their friendship even after the disgraced American financier had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Epstein died in 2019 by suicide in jail as he awaited trial for sex crimes against minors.

Even before the latest claims, Andrew was under renewed pressure from the US Justice Department's release on Friday of millions of new Epstein documents.

These included the embarrassing undated photographs of Andrew kneeling on all fours over a woman, and emails between him and Epstein from 2010 proposing the then-prince have dinner with a "beautiful, trustworthy" 26-year-old Russian woman.

S.Yamada--JT