Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre claims she was trafficked to have sex with Prince Andrew

An alleged victim at the centre of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal claims she was trafficked to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17.

In an interview on BBC Panorama, Virginia Giuffre calls for the British people to “stand beside her” and “not accept what happened to her as being OK”.

Ms Giuffre – then called Virginia Roberts - recounts her introduction to the prince in 2001 at Tramp nightclub, where she says he was the “most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen” and “his sweat was like it was raining”.

Prince Andrew said on BBC Newsnight last month he does not recall meeting Ms Giuffre and has strongly denied having sex with her – claiming a medical condition that meant he did not sweat.

Recalling her version of alleged events, Ms Giuffre said: “We went into the VIP section. There was no waiting in the lines obviously – you were with a prince.

“Andrew asked me what I wanted to drink you know and I said oh you know something from the bar. He had something clear. I know mine was vodka, and then he asked me to dance.

“He is the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean it was horrible and this guy was sweating all over me, like his sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere.”

“Grossed out” by the duke, Ms Giuffre says Epstein’s then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – the couple she claims introduced her to the prince - gave her instructions when they had left the venue.

She knew she had to keep him happy in the club because “that’s what Jeffrey and Ghislaine would have expected from me”, she said.

She claims that later that evening she had sex with Prince Andrew upstairs at Maxwell's house in Belgravia.

The prince said last month he can "absolutely and categorically" say "it never happened".

Asked about a photo that appears to show him with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist, the prince said he didn't recall the photograph ever being taken and questioned if it was his hand in the picture.

Ms Giuffre’s interview was recorded before the Prince spoke to Newsnight.

She has since told Panorama she stands by every word.

“The people on the inside are going to keep coming up with these ridiculous excuses,” she said.

“Like his arm was elongated or the photo was doctored, or he came to New York to break up with Jeffrey Epstein.

“I mean come on I'm calling BS on this, because that’s what it is. He knows what happened. I know what happened, and there's only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.”

In response to tonight’s Panorama, Buckingham Palace said the Duke “unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein” and “deeply sympathises with those affected who want some form of closure”.

They said “it is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation”.