Two witnesses revealed as they’re set to be quizzed in Prince Andrew sex abuse trial

PRINCE Andrew has been dealt a fresh blow as lawyers for his accuser have revealed two witnesses to be quizzed as part of the case.

The Duke's legal team are preparing to go toe-to-toe for with attorneys for his accuser Virginia Roberts, who alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17.

Andrew denies the allegations.

Now two witnesses have been revealed who will be called to either testify or be interviewed as Virginia's team attempt to prove the claims against Andrew.

The first is Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen Prince Andrew at Tramp Nightclub in London with a young girl around the time that Ms Giuffre contends Andrew abused her.

The second witness is Robert Olney, who is Prince Andrew’s former equerry and assistant.

It's believed he may have information about Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein - as his name appears in a public version of Epstein's 'Black Book.'

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Epstein staff members Juan Patricio Alessi, Larry Visoski, Johanna Sjoberg and Steve Scully, and even Meghan Markle had previously been suggested as potential witnesses.

And it is a further hammerblow of humiliation for the Duke who has already seen his military titles and royal patronages stripped from him.

Virginia is seeking an unknown amount of damages after allegedly being trafficking to Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

However, the sum reportedly could easily be in excess of £14million if she wins.

The Duke was a longtime pal with paedo couple Epstein and Maxwell - but denies knowing anything about their sick behaviour.

And the disgraced royal will likely face questions about claims he has made about the case - such as in his car crash interview on BBC Newsnight in 2019.

It could include being quizzed about whether or not he can sweat, or claims he was actually at a Pizza Express on the night he allegedly first abused Virgina.

Andrew will likely face being deposed under oath, during which he could also have answer questions about his marriage, his genitals and his sex life.

His accuser's lawyers have vowed "nothing is off limits".

Virginia claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times - once in London, once in New York and once on Epstein's private island Little St James.

LEGAL ACTION

The Duke is facing legal action over the allegations for the first time after Virginia went public in 2011.

He strongly denies all accusations - and claims he has no memory of ever meeting the teen.

But despite his denials, Andrew has been seemingly expelled from the Royal Family and left to fight his battles alone as a "private citizen".

Andrew has often been described as The Queen's "favourite son".

His brother Prince Charles and nephew Prince William - Britain's next two kings - are said to have been the ones to have given him the final shove.

It came after an hour-long summit with themselves and The Queen, with Charles said to have taken the final decision to "protect" their mother.

Andrew's case is finally coming before the courts after a judge threw out his final attempt to have to stopped by using a backroom $500k settlement deal between Epstein and Virginia.

Virginia claims she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to be abused by Andrew after meeting him at a nightclub in London in 2001.

It is alleged that she was taken back Ghislaine's townhouse were she was forced to have sex with the royal, who was at the time aged 41.

Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, which includes rape in the first degree, and his attorney's have claimed his accuser has a "tendency to change her story".

They also previously warned that she could be creating "false memories" with her claims.

Virginia claims she was enticed by the Duke of York's pal Maxwell and lured into paedo Epstein's sick sexual pyramid scheme.

Her legal team argue she was a "frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her" when she was allegedly abused by Andrew, saying "no person, whether President or Prince, is above the law".

Andrew is named as the only defendant in the suit, brought under New York state's Child Victims Act, but Epstein and Maxwell are mentioned frequently throughout.

Virginia claims she feared for her life when she was allegedly forced to have sex with Andrew, who is accused of having been aware of her age and status as a "sex-trafficking victim".

Court documents claim Ms Giuffre was "lent out for sexual purposes" by convicted sex offender Epstein including while she was still a minor under US law.

The docs add the alleged assaults "have caused, and continue to cause her, significant emotional and psychological distress and harm".

"Prince Andrew's actions, described above, constitute extreme and outrageous conduct that shocks the conscience," the lawsuit stated as it described the emotional distress suffered by Ms Giuffre.

"Prince Andrew's sexual abuse of a child who he knew was a sex-trafficking victim, and when he was approximately 40 years old, goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilised community," it added.

In an infamous Newsnight interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis in November 2019, Andrew denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre and said he had "no recollection" of ever meeting her.

He also said he has no memory of the well-known photograph of him with his arm around Virginia's waist at Maxwell's house, and has questioned whether the photo had been doctored.

The fallout from the interview saw the royal criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards Epstein's victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with disgraced financier.

Andrew has previously pledged to assist with any investigation into his former friend, but there has been a long running war of words between his team and US prosecutors about how much assistance he has offered them.

Epstein hanged himself in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking offences.

And meanwhile Maxwell faces potentially spending the rest of her life in prison after she was convicted for her role in the scheme.