Prince Andrew is said to be “totally tormented” as he braces himself for the scandal over his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to reignite in the New Year.
The Mail on Sunday has learned the Duke of York‘s name will appear alongside those of scores of Epstein‘s powerful friends – some of whom have not previously been publicly identified – when a tranche of court documents is published.
The prospect of once again facing intense scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein is said to have plunged Andrew into deep despair ahead of Christmas, which he is expected to spend in Sandringham with his brother King Charles and other Royals.
“Andrew’s name is in there,” one source said. “He is beside himself with this latest development, and everyone close to him is concerned for his mental wellbeing.
“He is at a loss, totally tormented. He is facing his second Christmas without his mother, and now the New Year is going to start with his name being dragged through the mud all over again.”
American judge Loretta Preska last week ruled that documents relating to more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims of multi-millionaire sex offender Epstein should be made public in early January.
The documents are part of a US defamation case Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts brought against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls, in 2015.
While the case was settled out of court two years later, The Miami Herald successfully fought to get the papers made public.
The first trove of documents was released in 2019, less than 48 hours before Epstein hanged himself in a New York jail while being held on child sex trafficking charges. The MoS has been told that other names set to be made public in the new documents include Wall Street bankers, business leaders and big-name politicians and academics.
Ms Roberts claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 – allegations Andrew has vehemently and consistently denied. A civil lawsuit she brought in the US was settled out of court with no admission of wrongdoing by Andrew.
A source said: “Every time Andrew hopes to put his association with Epstein in the past, it flares up again. It doesn’t matter that he has never been charged, let alone convicted, of any wrongdoing. His name keeps getting dragged through the mud by association. This is going to hang over him all Christmas. You have to wonder when it will ever end.”
Epstein was accused of sexually assaulting countless teenage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in New York and Florida and on his private Caribbean island.
Judge Preska gave those mentioned in the documents 14 days to formally object to the release of their names. Only a handful will remain secret – many of whom are minors or possible victims.
Roberts, 40, who now lives in Australia and goes by her married name of Giuffre, last week celebrated the judge’s ruling on social media, saying: “There”s going to be a lot of nervous ppl over Christmas and New Year, 170 to be exact, who”s on the naughty list?”
She called Preska “a truth seeker” and “justice maker”.
