Prince Andrew 'was an abuser', says Epstein accuser

An American woman who says she had sex with Prince Andrew as a 17-year-old has told NBC News that she was "trafficked" to the prince.

Virginia Giuffre, formerly Roberts, described him to the US TV network as "an abuser" and "a participant".

She has previously said she was abused in the bathroom of a London house, where she was pictured with the prince.

The Duke of York has denied having "any form of sexual contact or relationship" with Ms Giuffre.

It was part of a statement issued by Buckingham Palace, on behalf of the prince, which added that the claims were "false and without any foundation".

Ms Giuffre is one of several women who claim they were abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison last month while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

She claims Epstein directed her to have sex with a number of powerful men, including Prince Andrew.

In August, the prince said in two statements that he was "appalled" by reports of Epstein's crimes, but never saw any of the behaviour that led to his conviction in the "limited time" they spent together.

Now 35, Ms Giuffre is one of six women interviewed by the US TV network's Dateline programme about alleged abuse by Epstein.

She said she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend of Epstein, one summer when she was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by President Donald Trump.

Ms Maxwell, who is the daughter of disgraced British newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Ms Giuffre told Dateline: "The first time in London, I was so young. Ghislaine woke me up in the morning and said, 'You're gonna meet a prince today.'

"I didn't know at that point that I was going to be trafficked to that prince."

She said she was taken to "Club Tramp" where Prince Andrew gave her alcohol, possibly vodka, in the VIP section.

The prince asked her to dance and the three of them - Prince Andrew, Ms Maxwell and the 17-year-old Ms Giuffre - returned to Ms Maxwell's house.

Ms Giuffre said that Ms Maxwell told her: "He's coming back to the house and I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein."

She said the abuse began in the bathroom and moved to the bedroom.

"He wasn't rude or anything about it, he said 'thank you' and some kind of soft sentiments like that and left," Ms Guiffre said.

"I just couldn't believe it, that even royalty were involved."

Ms Giuffre has previously said that she was abused three times by the Duke of York, with one incident allegedly occurring at Epstein's New York mansion and another at his estate in the Caribbean.

Speaking about Prince Andrew, she said: "He denies that it ever happened and he's going to keep denying it ever happened, but he knows the truth and I know the truth."

She rejected suggestions that she was motivated by the possibility of compensation, saying that the statute of limitations prevented her making a legal claim.

The Duke of York said he first met Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager, in 1999. Ms Maxwell, described by Epstein as his best friend, was photographed several times at social events with the prince.

Epstein and Ms Maxwell were also pictured together on a pheasant shoot on the Queen's estate in Norfolk.

In 2010, after Epstein had been convicted of sex offences relating to procuring a minor under 18, Prince Andrew was photographed again with the financier in New York's Central Park. Footage shows him inside Epstein's mansion at about the same time.

NBC also spoke to a British woman who says she was abused by Epstein, Anouska de Georgiou.

She told the network that the abuse had conditioned her to be "silenced, isolated, secretive and shameful" but coming together with other alleged victims had created a "very special bond" between them.

"Jeffrey thought that we were disposable and he threw us all away. Look who's still standing," she said.