Prince Andrew facing 'sex slave summit' with Queen over allegations
Buckingham Palace issues statements defending royal against allegations of forced encounters
Britain's Prince Andrew was reportedly flying home from a skiing holiday for a "summit" with the Queen yesterday to discuss allegations he had sexual encounters with an underage "sex slave".
Details of the Duke of York's alleged sexual impropriety with the American woman were laid bare in Britain's tabloid press this weekend, as Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of issuing its second strongly worded statement defending the royal against the claims.
The woman claims she was kept as an underage "sex slave" by Wall Street billionaire Jeffrey Epstein from 1999 through to 2002 and during that time was forced to have sexual relations with the prince on three occasions - in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island when she was under the age of 18.
The shocking allegations, which have rocked the famously private royal household, were made in a filing to a Florida court last week. They were submitted as part of a lengthy lawsuit against Epstein, a friend of the prince who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and served a prison term.
The woman was not identified by name, just referred to in documents as "Jane Doe *3".
Yesterday, royal officials dismissed the claims for a second time, calling them "false and without any foundation".
The statements are unusual because royal spokesmen typically refrain from commenting on most media reports.
Buckingham Palace said it "emphatically denied" Queen Elizabeth's second son had "any form of sexual contact or relationship" with the woman.
The said the 54-year-old prince, who has been dogged for years by his relationship with Epstein, was due to fly back to Britain to meet legal advisers and the Queen to discuss how to handle the saga.
The paper said he was on a ski trip to Verbier, Switzerland with his two daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie when the scandal broke.
Yesterday, the and the newspapers both published details of interviews given by the woman in recent years, in which she discusses the three alleged encounters with the prince in detail.
Financier Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to child sex offences, but several women want authorities to reconsider a plea deal that they said allowed Epstein to avoid more serious federal charges.
The prince is not named as a defendant in that case, and no criminal charges or formal allegations have been made against him.
Following the denials from the prince and prominent US attorney Alan Dershowitz, one of Epstein's defence lawyers, "Jane Doe *3" told newspaper she refuses to be "unjustly victimised again".
She said: "These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time." Dershowitz, whom "Jane Doe *3" was allegedly forced to have sex with on several occasions, told AFP the story was "made up".
The prince, who is still close to ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, is fifth in line to the throne. The naval officer was Britain's special representative for international trade for 10 years until 2011 when he stepped down after controversy over his Epstein links.
