Woman who claims Prince Andrew groped her breast after Jeffrey Epstein flew her to New York to entertain the duke says she will testify to the FBI

A woman who claimed that Prince Andrew groped her breasts with a Spitting Image puppet of himself revealed today she now is ready to go to the FBI about him.

Johanna Sjoberg says she is willing to testify under oath against the Duke of York and tell US agents all she knows about the royal's long friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  

The 39-year-old is the second Epstein victim to claim that Andrew had sexual contact with her while on his knee at the billionaire's New York home when she was 21.

Ms Sjoberg has accused the duke of groping her by taking a Spitting Image puppet of himself and placing its hand on her breast after being jetted to the US by Epstein to 'entertain' the prince in around 2001. 

The bad news for Andrew came as it was revealed he is to ‘stand back’ from his charity patronages in a sign of his deepening humiliation over the Epstein scandal - as experts said today: 'He’s absolutely finished'.

Johanna's decision to speak out a decade ago is said to have inspired Virginia Roberts to reveal allegations Andrew had sex with her three times when she was 17.  

Johanna Sjoberg (pictured in 2007) says Prince Andrew groped her breast with a puppet at Jeffrey Epstein's New York home

A decade after she first spoke out, Joanna is ready to speak to the FBI after Andrew's disastrous BBC interview where he was accused of showing no sympathy for the victims Epstein groomed and abused, according to the Mirror.

A source said: 'As a victim of Epstein, Sjoberg’s testimony over how she was recruited and abused is vital to the FBI.

'Despite Epstein’s suicide, they are ­determined all those who enabled his crimes will face justice. It is a promise they made to the victims.

'Andrew has had serious allegations made against him and agents are determined that a person’s standing in life does not make them immune from being ­questioned.'

Joanna is one of two women who have come forward to allege sexual contact with the royal. 

Ms Sjoberg says that the duke groped her breast while he sat her on his knee at the paedophile's New York home. 

Her accusation, with she first aired in 2007, are understood to have given Virginia Roberts the courage to come forwards with her claims.

Virginian Roberts, now Mrs Giuffre, says that Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 years old. 

The FBI is believed to be looking at ways to interview Prince Andrew on British soil.

Agents are keen to question the duke about his knowledge of Epstein as well as Ghislaine Maxwell, who is alleged to have recruited his victims.

When Andrew stepped down from royal duties, he said he would be willing to help any law enforcement agency with their investigations.  

He has lost his £249,000 Sovereign Grant after his car crash interview on Newsnight, when he told Emily Maitlis he had not slept with Ms Giuffre, who is now 35. Ms Sjoberg was pictured as Andrew stepped down from 230 patronages.  

One royal source told the paper that the prince thinks he'll be able to clear his name by speaking to the FBI.  

Friends of Ms Sjoberg say that she is 'pleased' the duke is addressing the accusations facing him.  

She has refused to comment further on the allegations, telling the paper her lawyer is handling the matter. Her claim about the prince was originally made in US court papers.  

Ms Sjoberg levelled her allegations during a defamation case which Mrs Giuffre brought against 47-year-old Maxwell.

Epstein flew Ms Sjoberg and Mrs Giuffre from Palm Beach to Manhattan to entertain the duke.  

Ms Sjoberg also told a Sunday newspaper that the prince had place his hand on her breast.  

Andrew continued to be friends with Epstein despite him being convicted of child sex offences in 2008.

The friends were pictured together walking through Central Park in New York two years later. 

Prince Andrew told the BBC that he was only visiting to break off his friendship with Epstein. 

Mrs Giuffre has taken part in a BBC Panorama interview about her claims and the episode will air on December 2.

The prince denies any wrongdoing. Epstein left his £444million fortune to his brother, Mark, and killed himself in prison in August while facing sex trafficking charges.  

Prince Andrew is to ‘stand back’ from his charity patronages in a sign of his deepening humiliation over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, it was revealed yesterday.

Aides to the Duke of York said he would step aside temporarily, but sources suggested his older brother Prince Charles and nephew Prince William would oppose any future return to royal duties.

Charles is expected to fly home to Britain today after a tour of New Zealand, raising the prospect of a showdown between the brothers over Andrew’s disastrous decision to speak publicly about his relationship with convicted paedophile Epstein.

A new poll found six out of ten people believed it had damaged the reputation of the Royal Family and a slim majority believed he should be banned from public events such as Trooping the Colour and Remembrance Sunday.

Plans for a glittering reception at Buckingham Palace to mark Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday in February have been mothballed following public revulsion over the Newsnight interview.

Representatives from his charities, business sponsors and military affiliations would have been invited to the party, but many have attempted to distance themselves from him since the programme was shown.

During the BBC interview, Andrew denied claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, Virginia Roberts, but admitted he had ‘let the side down’ when he visited Epstein’s home in New York – two years after the billionaire financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The decision to go ahead with the interview was initially said to have been sanctioned by the Queen, but a royal source told the Sunday Times she had not given her approval and Andrew had not told her anything about what he planned to say.

The Queen was said to be ‘deeply frustrated’ that the scandal had overshadowed the rest of the Royal Family’s work although she remained ‘privately supportive’ of her second son, according to the source.

She effectively sacked him from royal duties last week after her heir Prince Charles and second in line to the throne, Prince William, asked her to intervene.

A source told the Sunday Times William had spoken to the Queen and Charles about Andrew’s future and believed his removal from public life was ‘the right thing to do’. They said: ‘William is becoming more and more involved in decisions about the institution [the monarchy] and he’s not a huge fan of his uncle Andrew.’

Andrew agreed to withdraw from public duty but initially wanted to remain a figurehead for some 200 charities and other affiliations. But he was forced to back down after many made it clear they no longer wanted his backing.

At least 23 organisations have either dropped him or accepted his resignation, including the English National Ballet, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Outward Bound Trust.

Several sponsors have also dropped their backing for his Pitch@Palace business initiative and the project has been told to find offices outside of Buckingham Palace.

There were calls for the duke’s business dealings and private finances to be scrutinised by the public finance committee, Parliament’s financial watchdog.

A spokesman insisted he would continue to work on the venture, now rebranded as Pitch. She added: ‘The duke will be stepping back from public duty and temporarily standing back from his patronages. The duke will continue to work on Pitch and will look at how he takes this forward outside of his public duties, and outside of Buckingham Palace.

‘We recognise there will be a period of time while this transition takes place.’

Andrew still remains a figurehead for several military organisations, including as honorary Colonel for the Grenadier Guards. Sources said some regiments felt ‘awkward’ about him featuring on their Christmas cards, but his military affiliations are expected to remain in place for now – although the Palace has said he would not take part in any events.

Royal biographer Penny Junor said she believed Andrew would be unable to return to royal duties after the scandal. ‘He’s absolutely finished,’ she told the Sunday Times. ‘If he is no longer representing or supporting the monarch in any capacity, or doing good charitably, what’s the point of him?’

 

Jeffrey Epstein victim says he boasted about friendship with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson after raping her on his private island

A Jeffrey Epstein victim has claimed that he raped her before bragging about his relationship with Prince Andrew.

Chauntae Davies, now 40, who worked as Epstein's masseuse and as an air hostess on his private plane, said the billionaire adorned his mansions with pictures of the eighth in line to the throne and his former wife Sarah Ferguson. 

She fell into the paedophile's path when she was a 21-year-old trainee massage therapist in Los Angeles and treated Ghislaine Maxwell at Beverly Hills' Four Seasons Hotel.

Ms Davies alleged to The Sun on Sunday that she was raped by the billionaire on his private island. 

'I was very aware of Jeffrey Epstein's friendship with Prince Andrew and Fergie right away', she said.

'It was one of several bragging tactics he used to further induce his power and privilege. He bragged a lot. He bragged about how he'd lent money to the Duchess.'

She also called on the Prince, who has been forced to retire from public duties after a car-crash BBC interview, to speak to the FBI.

'There is no way you could have been a friend of Jeffrey's and not know what was going on', she said.

'I don't see how you could see somebody with another young girl all the time and there never being a conversation about it. It doesn't add up.' 

Ms Davies has previously stated that she was raped by the billionaire the third or fourth time they met on Caribbean island Little St. James.

Andrew has previously admitted visiting the island and was named as a passenger on Epstein's jet, known as the Lolita Express for its orgies, in August 2001, for a trip from New York to New Mexico.

Prince Andrew has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing during his friendship with Epstein. 

Ms Davies also described how she spent two weeks 'vomiting myself to death' in a hospital after the alleged attack.

'He took me by the wrist. I was searching for words but all I could say was please stop, but that only seemed to excite him more,' she told a New York courtroom the first time that she spoke publicly about the event.

'It took me a long time to come forward. Every public humiliation that I endured, I have suffered, and he has won.' 

It came as a former Epstein employee, who has testified against him under the name 'Tiffany Doe', alleged the Prince had motor-boated her and that at the paedophile's parties girls were selected specifically to appease the Duke.

'The Duke seemed in good spirits and was out to enjoy himself', she told The Sunday Mirror.

'I always thought, Andrew liked my breasts. When he started to say hello he looked at them first rather than me.

'After Andrew motor-boated me he tried to remember what it was meant to be called. He didn’t quite know the term ‘motorboat’. He said, ‘motor… something?’

'He was trying to come off cool, but he didn’t know the words. I found him quite awkward, quite clumsy. He said I should be in a magazine for big-breasted women. It was a normal thing to happen at those parties.'

She also alleged that the girls had to be specially selected for Andrew to be curvy, and that she saw the Prince at parties a 'couple of times a year'.

'I would flirt with him and he would hit on me and was handsy. He would stand in close proximity, looking at my breasts', she said.