The royal is braced for a New Year nightmare with more evidence from a groping accuser. Photo / AP
The royal is braced for a New Year nightmare with more evidence from a groping accuser. Photo / AP
Warning: mention of sexual assault
Prince Andrew is bracing for a New Year nightmare after more evidence from a groping accuser has come to light.
Judge Loretta Preska has officially ruled that material related to Johanna Sjoberg should be unsealed in two weeks, according to The Sun.
The order was signed on December 18, which means that the documents could be made public any time from January 1 onwards - unless anyone appeals.
The 40 documents could shed light on even more details of Sjoberg’s encounters with the disgraced royal - which have already seen him thrust into a very unflattering light.
Sjoberg has alleged that Andrew groped her breasts at convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s New York mansion in March 2001, when she was only 21. He was said to have been playing with a Spitting Image puppet of himself - a present he had received from Epstein’s lover Ghislaine Maxwell.
Virginia Giuffre (nee Roberts, centre) said she had sex with Prince Andrew (left) in 2001 when she was only 17. Photo / Getty Images
Sjoberg has also publicly supported Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts) who said she had sex with Andrew in 2001 when she was only 17.
The Duke of York has denied the accusations against him and reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre.
In a deposition, Sjoberg recounted the 2001 incident: “I just remember someone suggesting a photo and they told us to get on the couch. And so Virginia and Andrew sat on the couch and they put the puppet on her lap.
Ghislaine Maxwell said her association with the late Jeffrey Epstein (left) became "the greatest regret of my life". Photo / Getty Images
“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.”
It was all done in “a joking manner” and “everybody laughed”, Sjoberg revealed.
The new evidence relating to Sjoberg, who is now a 42-year-old hairdresser living close to Palm Beach, Florida, are among hundreds of documents from 177 people.
The files were part of a US defamation case in 2015 by Giuffre against Maxwell.
Even though the case was settled, media sued to have the files made public.
They have now come to light on a rolling basis since 2019.
Sjoberg has already been identified on account of a 2021 story about her that Judge Preska cites as why she should not remain anonymous.
Giuffre sued the Duke of York in 2021 for battery and infliction of emotional distress.
They settled in February 2022 for a reported £10 million ($20.2m), however Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations and told the BBC in an interview that he never remembered meeting Giuffre (then Roberts).
