New evidence is set to be unveiled in a US court this week in relation to one of the allegations against Prince Andrew. Legal documents centering around Johanna Sjoberg have been released, and they could include further details about her alleged encounter with the British Royal.
Sjoberg had earlier claimed that Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast in the Manhattan home of Jeffrey Epstein in 2001. The incident had reportedly taken place during an interaction in which a latex Spitting Image puppet of the Duke of York – a gift from Epstein’s then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch the breast of Virginia Roberts.
Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, went on to claim that she and Andrew slept together at Epstein’s house. The Duke of York paid a reported £12 million to Giuffre in 2022 over sexual assault claims which he has denied.
The fresh evidence is part of hundreds of files associated with Epstein and includes testimonies from over 170 people. New York Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the documents should be made public, and they have been released in intervals since 2019.
According to Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre’s lawyer, the new material includes “disturbing testimony corroborating” the allegations against Maxwell. Maxwell has been accused of supplying Epstein with underage girls. The files were part of a US defamation case by Giuffre against Maxwell in 2015. The case was settled out of court, but several media outlets successfully fought for the release of the documents.
Aside from the material relating to Sjoberg’s alleged encounter with Prince Andrew, the unsealed evidence is also expected to include claims about a hidden email account belonging to Maxwell, which could reveal details of her conversations with the Duke of York. This latest evidence is likely to fuel further controversy and speculation about the allegations around Epstein’s associates and their alleged involvement in his crimes.
