PRINCE Andrew is set to claim that he never met one of Jeffrey Epstein’s girls, despite a multi-million pound payout to the girl and is set to start a “fight back” , claiming an infamous photo of him and Virginia Giuffre is a fake, Politicalite can exclusively reveal.
The well-known photograph showing the Duke of York next to Virginia Giuffre is reportedly genuine, according to evidence obtained by the Mail on Sunday, yet Prince Andrew claims it was a fake to smear him.
It’s claimed the photo was taken inside the Mayfair home of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking, the picture shows Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre.
Both Andrew and Maxwell have cast doubt on the authenticity of the photo.
A royal source told Politicalite: “What did he tell his shooting friends?”
“It is when out shooting that the Duke of York tends to talk most freely.”
“He says that details are about to be made public which will change people’s perceptions of him.”
“He says that it will happen next month.’”
“Andrew is expected to claim that he never met Ms Giuffre and to argue that the photo is fake in his future legal action.”
The picture was developed at a branch of Walgreens, a major US pharmacy chain, the Mail on Sunday claims.
It comes after Maxwell, speaking from prison in the US, said she is “sure” the picture is not real.
In an interview with TalkTV, she said: “It’s a fake. I don’t believe it’s real for a second, in fact I’m sure it’s not.”
She added: “Well, there’s never been an original and further there’s no photograph, and I’ve only ever seen a photocopy of it.”
Andrew has also questioned the validity of the image of him with Ms Giuffre.
The duke went on to pay millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre – a woman he claimed never to have met.
Ms Giuffre sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the former partner of Maxwell.
Andrew denied the claims.
The duke has previously said he has “no recollection” of meeting Ms Giuffre and cast doubt on the picture, claiming he is “not one to hug” or “display affection” in public.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019, Andrew said while he recognises himself in the picture with Ms Giuffre, he claimed it is not possible to prove whether the image had been faked.
He also claimed the picture could not have been taken in London, as he was in his “travelling clothes”.
Ms Giuffre insisted to BBC Panorama the photo was “authentic” and said she gave the original to the FBI in 2011.
