Lawyer: Key Witness in Prince Andrew Case Will Testify

Yet more bad legal news for Prince Andrew: A woman who says she saw Prince Andrew in a London nightclub with a young girl believed to Virginia Giuffre is willing to testify in Giuffre's lawsuit against him, her lawyer says. Lisa Bloom tells the Guardian that her client, Shukri Walker, "has bravely stepped forward as a witness and encourages others who may have information to do so as well." Giuffre has said she was forced to have sex with the prince after a visit to Tramp nightclub in London in 2001. The prince has denied having sex with Giuffre. In a 2019 interview that focused on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, he said he was at a Pizza Express restaurant in a London suburb that night—and claimed that her account of him sweating profusely in the club could not be true because he is unable to sweat.

Bloom said last year that Walker "remembers the night clearly because she never saw a royal before or since." She said her client remembers that "Prince Andrew was happy, smiling and dancing, and Virginia did not look happy. My client was a trafficking victim herself and wants everyone to know that sex trafficking is real, ongoing and devastating." She said Walker also remembers seeing Ghislaine Maxwell in the club. A judge ruled last week that Giuffre's lawsuit against the prince could go to trial in in the US, and both sides are working on collecting evidence from potential witnesses, the BBC reports.

Giuffre has said Epstein and Maxwell pressured her into having sex with the prince on multiple occasions, but the royal's lawyers want to question her husband and psychologist Dr. Judith Lightfoot, alleging that she "may suffer from false memories," per the BBC. Giuffre's lawyers have said they want to speak to Robert Olney, a former aide to the prince, because he may have "relevant information about Prince Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein." They have also asked for proof of his alleged inability to sweat. (Queen Elizabeth II has stripped the prince of his military affiliations and royal patronages.)