FRIENDS of Prince Andrew have cast doubt on claims he was seen dancing with “sex slave” Virginia Roberts at Tramp nightclub, pointing out he went to a party at the same venue three days later.
A second witness has come forward to back up claims the Duke of York danced with Ms Roberts on the night he is alleged to have had sex with the 17-year-old.
The first witness approached Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing some of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, after watching the Duke’s car crash interview on Newsnight.
Ms Bloom, who flew to London from Los Angeles to interview the witness, a British woman, said a second witness came forward after she appeared on ITV’s This Morning.
She told the Mail on Sunday: “The first woman, a Londoner, contacted me after she saw Prince Andrew’s interview.
“She was very disappointed that he denied knowing Virginia and denied being at the [Tramp] nightclub. That’s what spurred her to come forward.”
She said the second woman was a friend of the first and had backed up version of events. She said she was preparing to take them both to the US to speak to the FBI.
However sources close to the scandal-hit royal pointed out he was snapped at Tramp on March 13, 2001, 72 hours after it is alleged he went there with Ms Roberts.
On that night he had attended a 40th birthday bash for Guy Sangster, the son of the racing tycoon Robert Sangster.
A source told the Daily Telegraph: “At that time, the Duke went to tramp a lot. He was at a birthday party the same week for one of the Sangsters.”
They said it was difficult for them to be certain the woman he was with was Ms Roberts, rather than a female pal, especially as he frequented Tramp a “lot” at the time.
It comes as the Sun on Sunday revealed a picture of alleged pimp Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein at Princess Beatrice’s 18th birthday bash at Windsor Castle in 2006.
As they mingled with royalty at Beatrice’s 18th, police had already prepared an arrest warrant for Epstein on child sex abuse charges and raided his Florida mansion.
Eight days after the billionaire posed in a US Navy Seal uniform for the snap he was in cuffs.
The Sun reported today how Maxwell is preparing a tell-all TV interview to defend Andrew.
In his Newsnight interview Andrew claimed he had taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking on the night he is accused of sleeping with Roberts.
Roberts has claimed she met Andrew at London club Tramp, where he “sweated profusely”, before sleeping with him in 2001.
But the Duke claimed that was factually wrong as he had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat, the result of being shot at during the Falklands conflict.
The duke was sacked by the Queen and stripped of his royal duties and £249,000 sovereign grant as the backlash from his disastrous interview continued.
Andrew said he did not regret having been a friend of Epstein, who killed himself in jail aged 66 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, and failed to express any sympathy for his victims.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
