Prince Andrew To Face Another Nightmare Nearly 2 Years After Virginia Giuffre Settlement

Prince Andrew could be facing another round of controversy once the sealed documents about another alleged groping incident would be accessible to the public.

Judge Loretta Preska ruled that all the materials related to Johanna Sjoberg be unsealed in 14 days in an order signed on Monday. This means the documents would be made public anytime from Jan. 1 onwards unless anyone appeals, The Sun reported. The 40 documents could reveal additional details of Sjoberg's alleged encounters with Prince Andrew, which had already put the royal in an unflattering light.

Sjoberg accused the Duke of York of groping her breasts at Jeffrey Epstein's New York mansion in March 2001. She was 21 at the time. He was reportedly playing with a Spitting Image puppet of himself, a present he received from Epstein's lover Ghislaine Maxwell, when the alleged incident occurred. 

"I just remember someone suggesting a photo, and they told us to get on the couch. And so Virginia (Giuffre) and Andrew sat on the couch, and they put the puppet on her lap," Sjoberg said in a deposition about the 2001 trip.

"And so I sat on Andrew's lap, I believe of my own volition, and they took the puppet's hands and put it on Virginia's breast, and so Andrew put his on mine."

She noted that it was done in a "joking manner," so "everybody laughed." The outlet noted that the documents related to Sjoberg were among the hundreds of files from 177 people. They were reportedly part of a 2015 U.S. defamation case filed by Giuffre against Maxwell. The case was already settled, but the media sued to have the documents released to the public.

They have been released on a rolling basis since 2019. Sjoberg has been identified due to a story published in 2021 about her, and Judge Preska indicated that she should not remain anonymous.

Giuffre sued Prince Andrew for sexual abuse. Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice denied the allegations. 

Amid the lawsuit in January 2022, the late Queen Elizabeth stripped him off his royal patronages and military titles. The royal family also announced in a statement that Prince Andrew would be "defending this case as a private citizen." A month later, Prince Andrew paid Giuffre an undisclosed amount to settle the case, CNN reported.