Prince Andrew has locked himself away in a room and is devastated after he was named in newly released court documents, a source has claimed.
The Duke of York was named in files released on Friday relating to a 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell brought by Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre has accused Prince Andrew of abusing her when she was a teenager.
The Duke of York settled a claim by Ms Giuffre for an undisclosed sum in 2022 without admitting any wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew has always strenuously denied Ms Giuffre’s claims.
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Prince Andrew has always strenuously denied Ms Giuffre’s claims.
The Duke of York has “no idea” how to respond to the newly released documents, according to an insider.
The source told the Mail: “He doesn’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with this.”
They added: “He has locked himself away in a room and has no idea how to respond. He’s devastated.”
During the deposition, Maxwell claimed she never introduced Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell’s claim contradicts Andrew’s account of how he first met the convicted sex offender.
Maxwell said during the deposition when asked if she introduced Andrew to Epstein: “That would be another of Virginia’s lies and the lies you perpetrate.
During the deposition, Maxwell claimed she never introduced Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein.
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“I never introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein at any time ever, so just add that to the long list of lies.”
She added: “I do not know [how] Jeffrey met Prince Andrew.”
Maxwell’s testimony appears to contradict what the Duke of York told Emily Maitlis during his 2019 Newsnight interview.
Prince Andrew told the BBC he met Epstein “through his girlfriend [Maxwell] back in 1999… and I’d known her since she was at university in the UK.”
