Prince Andrew once reportedly said that he was a lot closer to British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell than her boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire at the center of a sex trafficking case in the United States.
But now that Maxwell is at the front and center of the Epstein trial, after her arrest in New Hampshire on July 2, Lisa Bloom, the lawyer for six of Epstein's victims, believes that Prince Andrew might be called on the stand to testify for his friend.
Bloom said in an interview with the Lorraine talk show that it's common for British people to testify in cases tried in the U.S. Since Prince Andrew is not above the law, Bloom said that the FBI has better reasons to talk to the Duke of York about the Epstein case because of his ties to Maxwell.
Maxwell entered a "not guilty" plea during her arraignment in New York on Tuesday. She is being tried on sexual exploitation charges tied to Epstein's sex trafficking activities. The judge has denied her bail request, which means that she will be in jail while the trial is ongoing.
A day after the arraignment, Prince Andrew was seen driving through the Windsor Castle gates. The Duke of York appeared to be in a happy mood as he laughed and talked to his protection officer.
Prince Andrew's legal team has said, time and again, that they have offered to cooperate with the FBI regarding the matter. However, negotiations apparently stalled because the royal's legal team are careful that Prince Andrew would not become a suspect.
The Duke of York's lawyers apparently want to submit a prepared statement, instead of a sit-down interview with the FBI, to avoid another mishap. Prince Andrew could incriminate himself if he does another interview in the same way that he earned serious backlash when he talked to BBC about his ties to Epstein.
It comes as a woman, Virginia Giuffre, came forward in 2019 to say she had sexual relations with Prince Andrew upon the prodding of Epstein, when she was a minor. The Duke of York has denied meeting Giuffre.
Meanwhile, half of Americans believe that Prince Andrew must be extradited to give clarity to the Epstein case in U.S. courts. In a poll conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, 53 percent of U.S. voters apparently think that he should be made to testify in court.
