Prince Andrew to give statement under oath

Lawyers for Prince Andrew are said to be planning to present his rape accuser Virginia Roberts as a sex trafficker, as he prepares to talk under oath.

Prince Andrew’s lawyers are said to be planning to present his rape accuser Virginia Giuffre as a sex trafficker by allegedly using evidence from a Jeffrey Epstein victim.

The Duke’s legal team is seeking a sworn testimony from Carolyn Andriano who claims she was recruited by Ms Giuffre, then Roberts, at 14 and was trained to give ex-paedo banker sexual massages, The Sun reported.

But the move could backfire dramatically because Ms Andriano recently corroborated claims that Ms Giuffre had sex with Andrew at convicted sex predator Ghislaine Maxwell’s home when she was 17.

The Duke has strenuously denied the claims made against him.

Andrew’s lawyers are also seeking other women who may have been recruited by Ms Giuffre while they were under age to testify, according to the Sunday Times.

A source familiar with the Duke’s strategy told the paper his legal team were “interested in speaking with and interviewing anyone and everyone who has information relevant to these allegations”.

It comes as the Duke, 61, was handed a date for a two-day grilling by Ms Giuffre’s lawyers starting on March 10.

Andrew will be questioned by ace lawyers David Boies and Sigrid McCawley before they interview a woman who alleges she saw the prince with Ms Giuffre at London’s Tramp nightclub in 2001, the same night as the notorious photo.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London on March 13 2001 Picture: Florida Southern District Court/Supplied

His former royal aide Robert Ashton Olney will also be questioned by Mr Boies, 80, who has a fearsome reputation as the “greatest deposition-taker” in modern US justice.

Ms Giuffre, who now lives in Australia, has yet to agree to a date to be interviewed under oath by Andrew’s lawyers.

The 38-year-old mum is suing the Prince in New York in a civil case for alleged sexual assault and battery.

She claims she was trafficked as a teenager to the Queen’s favourite son through Epstein and Maxwell and had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions in 2001 – once as Maxwell’s Belgravia unit, another time at Epstein’s New York mansion and a third time on the paedo’s Caribbean island Little St James.

The Prince’s legal team have unsuccessfully tried to get the case thrown out on technical grounds but are now recalibrating their strategy ahead of the jury trial set for later this year.

They argue Ms Giuffre shouldn’t be compensated because she was complicit in a “criminal enterprise” – the so-called “unclean hands” defence.

In court papers filed last month, they stated: “Giuffre’s alleged causes of action are barred in whole or in part by her own wrongful conduct and the doctrine of unclean hands.”

If Ms Andriano refuses to testify, she could be held in contempt of court and be fined or face jail time.

Prince Andrew’s lawyers have a plan. Picture: John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Now 35 and living in Florida, Ms Andriano’s testimony was crucial in the jailing of Epstein co-accomplice Maxwell to 65 years in prison in December last year.

She revealed in court that Ms Giuffre had approached her about “making some money” at Epstein’s homes.

Ms Andriano waived her anonymity last month when she told the Daily Mail she was just 14 when she was lured into Epstein’s sick world.

She said: “I definitely could pass for 21 when I was made up.

“I did my own make-up, but Virginia gave me clothes. She gave me these really tight skimpy shorts with a spaghetti-strap top with all my cleavage hanging out.

“She just said: ‘Whatever you do, don’t say your age.’ And I didn’t even ask why. I went along with it.”

She recalled giving Epstein a nude massage and seeing Ms Giuffre have sex with him.

“I didn’t know what to do or say, or where to go, so I sat on the couch and watched until it was finished,” she later said.

“We walked back downstairs and Maxwell asked, ‘How did everything go?’ Virginia gave her a look to say it was a great session and that’s when Maxwell asked me for my telephone number.”

She was paid $300 and would return to the villa about 100 times over the next four years where she was allegedly repeatedly abused by Epstein.

In an interview with The Mail, Ms Andriano confirmed that Ms Giuffre had texted her in 2001 saying she had slept with the Duke and showed her a copy of the now infamous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre as a teen.

“I asked her if she’d been to the palace,” Ms Andriano said, adding: “And she said ‘I got to sleep with him.’

“I said ‘What? You’re f***ing with me’, and she said, ‘No, I got to sleep with him.’

“She didn’t seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool.”

A spokeswoman for the Duke declined to comment. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP

Lawyers for the Prince are said to be plotting to use Ms Giuffre’s comments to Ms Andriano to claim the teen had been boasting and that the allegation was impossible to prove.

The Duke’s legal team have also claimed the photo of him and Ms Giuffre together was a fake and have request the original version.

Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, has previously said: “Virginia has said for years that her role in facilitating other young women’s involvement is something that she has always regretted.

“But that fact doesn’t have anything to do with the truth of her allegations (against Prince Andrew).”

The Sun Online has contacted Mr Boies for comment.

A spokeswoman for the Duke declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission