Fergie's friends want Prince Andrew's accuser Giuffre 'put on the rack'

NZ Herald

26 Nov, 2019 06:55 PM2 mins to read

Prince Andrew claims he was with his daughter Beatrice on the night his accuser says they met. Photo / File

Friends of Sarah Ferguson are calling for Virginia Giuffre to be "put on the rack" in her Panorama interview next week.

The ex-wife of the disgraced Prince Andrew urged the BBC to question his accuser as closely as the prince himself in his disastrous Newsnight interview.

Giuffre claims the Duke had sex with her three times when she was just 17, alleging that she had been trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Andrew admitted he had a close friendship.

The Duke denies this and says he was at a pizza restaurant with his daughter Beatrice on the night Giuffre says they met.

Giuffre, now 36, will be interviewed on BBC's Panorama program, set to air in the UK on December 2.

Friends of the Duchess told the Daily Telegraph that Giuffre should be "properly cross examined on all the evidence that doesn't stack up. She should be put on the rack.

"The BBC cannot drill him as they did and just believe her when there are lots of inconsistencies."

One friend also said Giuffre should be asked how much she had been paid for a photo of Andrew with his arm around her at Epstein's girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's London home.

The friend thought the photo had sold for nearly £150,000 ($NZ300,175).

The photo of the Duke and Giuffre said to have sold for nearly £150,000. Photo / Supplied

It's understood the original photo was given to the FBI by Giuffre to aid them in their investigation into Epstein's sex trafficking ring.

After a 2015 lawsuit her claims were ruled "immaterial" to the suit's central claim, and she was paid an unknown amount of money when the case was settled out of court in 2017.

Buckingham Palace is calling the allegations "false and without any foundation".

"Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by the Duke was "categorically untrue".

Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his royal duties last week after he told Newsnight's Emily Maitlis he had no regrets about his friendship with Epstein.