Prince Andrew is “highly likely” to be called as a witness in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, according to a royal expert.
Nigel Cawthorne has speculated that the Duke of York will be called to take the witness stand following the recent arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell.
“He can’t just hide behind palace walls forever,” he said.
“He has a very tough decision to make whether to get on a plane and go and turn up there and be cross-examined by a red-hot Manhattan prosecutor.”
“I do think that he’ll have to compromise with the US authorities to some extent and give some sort of deposition – but it will probably be from here the UK and not require travelling to the US,” he continued.
“A crisis team of advisors is likely to be guiding the royals on how to navigate the scandal. They’ll be planning on how to distance the palace from Prince Andrew.”
“Obviously, whatever the outcome, it won’t reflect well on the royal family. But they’ve weathered many storms in the past.”
After Ghislaine was arrested earlier this month, US attorney Audrey Strauss said she “would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us.”
During a press conference, she said, “We would like to have the benefit of his statement,” prompting speculation that the Duke may be called in for questioning.
Last year, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims Virginia Roberts Guiffre claimed Ghislaine helped him groom teen girls for sex.
Speaking to NBC’s Dateline last November, Virginia alleged that Jeffrey directed her to have sex with a number of powerful men – including Prince Andrew.
The Duke of York later denied her claims in a controversial Newsnight interview, in which he addressed his former friendship with Jeffrey.
According to the indictment at the Southern District Court of New York, Ghislaine Maxwell is facing six charges – including enticement and conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and two counts of perjury.
The 58-year-old faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of the charges against her.
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