- The legal documents concern one of Prince Andrew's accusers, Johanna Sjoberg
New evidence from one of Prince Andrew's accusers will be presented in a US court this week.
The legal documents relate to Johanna Sjoberg and could reveal more details about her alleged meeting with the royal family.
Ms Sjoberg has previously claimed that the king's brother put his hand on her breast at the Manhattan home of multi-millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2001.
She claimed this happened during an incident in which a latex Spitting Image doll of the Duke of York – a gift from Epstein's then-lover Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch Virginia Roberts' breast.
Ms Roberts, who now uses her married name Giuffre, claimed she and Andrew slept together at Epstein's house afterwards.
New evidence from one of Prince Andrew's accusers will be presented in a US court this week. The legal documents relate to Johanna Sjoberg and could reveal more details about her alleged meeting with the royal family
Ms Sjoberg (pictured) has previously claimed that the King's brother put his hand on her breast at the Manhattan home of multi-millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2001. She claimed this happened during an incident in which a latex Spitting Image doll of the Duke of York – a gift from Epstein's then-lover Ghislaine Maxwell – was used to touch Virginia Roberts' breast
The Duke paid a £12million settlement to Ms Roberts in 2022 over her claims he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, which he has always denied.
During his infamous Newsnight interview in 2019, he said he could not remember ever meeting Ms Roberts. The new material is part of hundreds of files belonging to more than 170 people who were Epstein's associates, friends or victims that New York Judge Loretta Preska ruled should be made public.
Ms Roberts' lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, calls the new material “disturbing testimony that confirms what is at the heart of this case – Maxwell was involved with Jeffrey Epstein in facilitating the sexual abuse of young girls.”
The files were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Roberts against Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls.
That was settled out of court, but the media successfully fought to make the documents public. They have been released on a rolling basis since 2019.
Ms Sjoberg's 30-page summary of evidence is expected to be released this week, alongside claims about a hidden Maxwell email account, which could reportedly reveal details of her conversations with 63-year-old Andrew.
The files were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Roberts against Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls. Maxwell and Epstein are pictured together in an undated evidentiary photo obtained by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2021
Ms. Sjoberg, now a hairdresser who is 42 years old and lives in Florida, has previously said that Maxwell recruited her in 2001 to give massages to Epstein while she was still in college. Recalling the Spitting Image doll incident, Ms. Sjoberg said in a sworn statement in 2016: “I remember someone suggested a picture and they told us to sit on the couch. Virginia and Andrew sat on the couch and placed the doll on her lap.
“And so I sat down on Andrew's lap, I believe of my own volition, and they took the doll's hands and put them on Virginia's chest, and so Andrew put his on mine.”
She said it all happened in “joke.” According to her previous accounts, although the prince was inappropriately tactile, he had caused no offense.
Andrew denies any wrongdoing.
Epstein, 66, hanged himself in prison while being held on child sex trafficking charges in 2019. Maxwell, 62, was jailed for 20 years in 2022 for helping him abuse girls.