Britain's Prince Andrew made his first public remarks since he was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old introduced to him by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying he wanted to “reiterate and to reaffirm the statements which have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace.”
Queen Elizabeth's second son was hosting a reception at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.
The woman says she had sex with the prince among others including Epstein, a convicted sex offender who she says later paid her $15,000. Buckingham Palace has vehemently denied the woman's claims since she first made them last year. Prince Andrew echoed those denials Thursday.
“I want, for the record, to refer to the events that have taken place in the last few weeks. I just wish to reiterate and to reaffirm the statements which have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace,” he said. “My focus is on my work.”
But in fresh court papers filed Wednesday, Prince Andrew’s accuser repeated her allegations and allegedthe 54-year-old prince waslying.
"I have seen Buckingham Palace's recent 'emphatic' denial that Prince Andrew had sexual contact with me," she says in her latest court filing. "That denial is false and hurtful to me. I did have sexual contact with him as I have described here - under oath. That money was for what I had done and to keep my mouth shut about 'working' with the prince."
She is seeking to join a lawsuit filed by other alleged victims against the U.S. government for an earlier plea deal reached with Epstein in 2008. Federal prosecutors oppose the lawsuit.
Epstein's lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, is also accused of having sex with the woman - which he repeatedly denied in an interview on Thursday's TODAY show.
"I've never seen her, I've never met her," He told Savannah Gurthrie. "She is categorically lying and making the whole thing up."
IN-DEPTH
- Underage Sex Claims Against Prince Are False: Palace
- Lawyer on Woman's Underage Sex Claims: 'I Am Hiding Nothing'