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New Epstein accuser claims sexual encounter with ex-prince Andrew - report

US lawyer for the woman said the alleged encounter occurred at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's residence on Windsor estate
US lawyer for the woman said the alleged encounter occurred at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's residence on Windsor estate

A second Jeffrey Epstein accuser has alleged the late US sex offender sent her to Britain for a sexual encounter with former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the BBC reported.

A US lawyer for the woman told the broadcaster 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," Mr 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.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor 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.

Ms 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.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, 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.

Slovakia national security adviser resigns over Epstein files, denies wrongdoing

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's national security adviser has resigned after new files ⁠related to Jeffrey Epstein showed the pair had exchanged emails talking about young women.

National security adviser Miroslav Lajcak issued a statement denying any wrongdoing and condemning Epstein's crimes.

He described the exchange as informal and light-hearted and without any real substance, but said he would offer his resignation so the situation would not be used to attack the prime minister.

"Not because of having done ⁠anything criminal or unethicalin my actions, but I don't want ⁠him (Fico) to bear the politicalcosts for something that's unrelated to his decisions," ⁠he said.

Mr Fico ⁠announced in a video message on Facebook yesterday he had accepted Mr Lajcak's resignation, calling the ⁠adviser an incredible source of experience in diplomacy and foreign policy.

The US Justice Department on Friday published millions of new files related to Epstein, including a text exchange from October 2018, when Mr Lajcak was Slovakia's foreign minister.