PRINCE Andrew has suggested that the photo of him with his arm around 17-year-old sex slave Virginia Roberts was faked and has commissioned investigators to examine it.
Here, we look at the Duke of York‘s main arguments following his bombshell TV interview on BBC Newsnight with Emily Maitlis.
‘Those are my travelling clothes’
ANDREW says his clothes in the picture, supposedly taken at Ghislaine Maxwells Belgravia house in March 2001, were travelling clothes and not what he would wear on London nights out.
But The Sun on Sunday found pictures of him in near-identical attire on a 2001 night out in the capital.
‘I didn’t go upstairs at Ghislaine’
THE Prince claimed he had never been upstairs in Maxwells townhouse.
He said: The photograph is taken upstairs and I dont think I ever went upstairs in Ghislaines house.
Asked if he was sure, he said: Yeah, because the dining room and everything was on the ground floor.
‘I’m not one to, as it were, hug’
ANDREW doubts the picture is real because he does not usually hug in public.
The snap shows him with his arm wrapped around Virginias waist.
But he said that as a royal, hugs and public displays of affection are not something that I do.
‘We can’t be certain that it’s my hand’
PALS have suggested that the hand around Virginias waist is not Andrews as his fingers are chubbier.
He said: Thats me, but whether thats my hand or whether thats the position I we cant be certain as to whether or not thats my hand.
‘I’ve never seen him with a camera’
THE Duke also cast doubt on the picture by saying he had never seen Epstein with a camera in my life.
The sex offender is said to have taken the photo. Newsnight pointed out that Virginia has consistently claimed it was taken by Epstein on her Kodak.
‘It’s a photo of a photo of a photo’
THE Prince has cast doubt on the image, calling it a photograph of a photograph of a photograph.
But it is just a snap of Virginias original picture.
She is said to have given the original, along with 19 other images, to FBI investigators in 2011.
The Duke of York also insists that he was in a Pizza Express on the night he allegedly slept with Virginia Roberts, a sex slave of his paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein.
And when asked about claims that he and Virginia had sex, he said: I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened.
Prince Andrew admitted he was being “too honourable” by staying with paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein – but insisted it was “convenient” for him.
In the interview shown on BBC2 last night, Andrew told Newsnights Emily Maitlis he did not regret his friendship with the late Epstein but that the fallout hasdamaged his mental health.
But the grovelling Duke of York has apologised for his friendship with the millionaire saying he “let the side down”.
Accuser Virginia Roberts claims she met Prince Andrew at London club Tramp before sleeping with him in 2001.
But Andrew, dad to Beatrice, 31, and Eugenie, 29, with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, said: That couldnt have happened because the date being suggested the 10th of March I was at home with the children.
Id taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
And then because the Duchess was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other is there.
Fergie has also spoken out to defend her ex-husband, branding him a “true gentleman”.
Prince Andrew pictured with Sarah Ferguson and their daughters
The Duchess of York said on Instagram the prince was “giant of a principled man” ahead of his bombshell interview.
She shared a message of support today saying she was with him “every step of the way”.
The 60-year-old wrote: “It is so rare to meet people that able to speak from their hearts with honesty and pure real truth, that remain steadfast and strong to their beliefs.
“Andrew is a true and real gentleman and is stoically steadfast to not only his duty but also his kindness and goodness of always seeing the best of people.
“I am deeply supportive and proud of this giant of a principled man, that dares to put his shoulder to the wind and stands firm with his sense of honour and truth.
“For so many years he has gone about his duties for Great Britain and The Monarch.
“It is time for Andrew to stand firm now, and that he has, and I am with him every step of the way and that is my honour.
“We have always walked tall and strong, he for me and me for him.
“We are the best examples of joint parenting, with both our girls and go back to my three C’s – Communicate, Compromise, Compassion.”
