Prince Andrew spared trial as underage ‘sex slave’ settles out of court

PRINCE Andrew has been spared embarrassment after a court case dealing with allegations he slept with a teenage “sex slave” was scrapped.

By RICHARD PALMER
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Fri, May 26, 2017

Prince Andrew spared trial as underage ‘sex slave’ settles out of court
Virginia Roberts, 33, who claims she slept with the Duke of York three times in the early 2000s, agreed to settle a libel action she had brought against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Ms Roberts alleged she had been recruited by Ms Maxwell, daughter of the late tycoon Robert Maxwell, as an underage “sex slave” for billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile and former friend of Andrew.

When Ms Maxwell insisted it was all lies, Ms Roberts sued for libel.

The trial, which had been due to start yesterday in New York, was expected to deal with sensational allegations that Ms Roberts slept with Prince Andrew when she was 17.

Lawyers had planned to call Epstein, 64, to give evidence and ask him about the day in March 2001 when he was said to have introduced Ms Roberts to Andrew.

Andrew, 57, has categorically denied sleeping with Ms Roberts.

In January 2015, he authorised Buckingham Palace to say: “It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”

The Duke was forced to quit his role as the UK’s special representative for trade and investment after controversy over his friendship with Epstein, who served 13 months in prison for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

Andrew, 57, has categorically denied