Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former partner has offered up a bizarre explanation for a photo of the former prince leaning over a woman's body in the Epstein files.
The concerning image was released by the US Department of Justice when three million pages of documents relating to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were made available.
Andrew can be seen wearing a white polo and jeans while he touches the unknown woman's stomach. The photo's context remains unknown, though there is no suggestion of wrongdoing, and any inclusion in the files doesn't indicate any wrongdoing.
The 66-year-old has continuously denied the allegations against him regarding Epstein and any knowledge or involvement in the disgraced financier's crimes.
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Now, the former Duke of York's ex-girlfriend, Lady Victoria Hervey, has suggested that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the photo, claiming Andrew was in the middle of a 'CPR training course'.
Hervey is a British model and socialite, the daughter of Victor Hervey, the 6th Marquess of Bristol, and his third wife, Yvonne Hervey, Dowager Marchioness of Bristol.
She and Andrew briefly dated in 1999, a few years after his divorce from Sarah Ferguson in 1996, and has previously defended Andrew, telling Good Morning Britain in 2019 her response to his infamous BBC Newsnight interview: "I watched it and I thought, there is no way, if he is guilty, that he would go onto television and do an interview like that. There’s no way."
According to The Times, the 49-year-old also claimed the photo of Andrew and his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, was a 'fake'.
In an appearance on Dan Wootton's Outspoken podcast, she shared what she believed was going on in the photo, which shows a woman lying on the floor, with Andrew kneeling on top of her.
She continued: "I messaged Leah, who's Ghislaine [Maxwell]'s lawyer, and Ghislaine is a trained emergency medical technician."
Wootton then asked: "So what he's learning to give someone CPR there, you think?' to which Hervey responded: "Yeah, it's part of the course."
She further claimed that the girl was an 'assistant of Jeffrey's' and she was 'overage'. Wootton also asked if she still believed the photo of Andrew and Giuffre was 'fake', which she said 'absolutely'.
Hervey then brought up accusations made against Wootton, adding: "You were falsely accused and you jump the gun on this, I was quite shocked and surprised actually that you went there just for clicks."
While she didn't refer to any specific allegations, the former GB News host has been previously accused in 2023 of using fake social media accounts to offer people money to obtain 'sexually compromising pictures', which Wootton strongly denied, calling the claims a 'smear campaign' and 'simply untrue'.
According to the BBC, the journalist, 43, has also denied a claim made by a 'former colleague', who alleged that, in 2009, Wootton tricked him into sending explicit material of himself by catfishing him. In documents filed at the High Court, Wootton denied ever communicating with him 'via any medium' and said he had never 'been in possession' of any 'explicit photographs or video' involving the man.
Hervey's claim comes after she'd told LBC that anyone who isn't mentioned in the Epstein files is a 'loser'.
She also admitted to being in the files herself, saying that 'Epstein knew everybody who was very powerful'.
"So, like if you were on the scene and you were powerful," she continued. "If you’re not in those files, it would be an insult because it just means that you were a bit of a loser."
Following Andrew's arrest for misconduct of public office allegations on 19 February, Hervey told Piers Morgan on his show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, that her ex had been subject to 'sick and deranged hounding'.
Celebrities pictured in the Epstein files
Bill Clinton
Pictures of the former US President were featured in the file drop, with the 79-year-old photographed sitting in a hot tub with an unidentified woman and swimming in a pool alongside Maxwell, with no further context provided.
Clinton has always denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing.
After the pictures were released, Clinton's spokesperson addressed them in a statement, saying the photos were '20-plus-year-old' and he had ended his friendship with Epstein before his crimes came to light.
During his recent deposition before the House Oversight Committee, he was asked about the hot tub photo, to which he responded that he didn't know when it was taken or who the woman in the picture was.
In his opening statement before his testimony, the politician said he 'had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing', adding: "No matter how many photos you show me, I have to things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos."
Bill Gates
A few pictures of the Microsoft founder also appeared in the files. One picture showed him with Epstein's pilot, Lawrence Visoski, while another was with an unidentified woman. Both are undated. Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing and said he saw and did 'nothing illicit'.
Elsewhere in the documents, a 2013 email from Epstein detailed Gates' supposed affairs, which claimed he'd caught an 'STD' as a 'consequence' of having 'sex with Russian girls'. Gates responded to the email's claims, calling them 'false'.
However, on 25 February, he acknowledged the affairs and apologised 'to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made', though he stressed that they did not involve any of Epstein's victims.
He also said the photos of him with unidentified women were ones Epstein had asked him to take.
Stephen Hawking
A photo of the famed scientist was featured in the files, with one showing him sitting between two bikini-clad women, whose identities were redacted by the DOJ. Hawking was also mentioned in the files at least 250 times, though he hasn't been accused of any crime.
On 25 February, Hawking's family came forward and revealed that the photo had been taken in 2006, when he was staying at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St Thomas while attending the Energy of Empty Space That Isn’t Zero, an event funded by Epstein, alongside 21 other scientists, and the women in the picture were his 'long term carers'.
Other pictures showed Hawking at dinner on Little Saint James, Epstein's island, and on a submarine tour.
A representative for the Hawking's family continued: "Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme."
Lord Peter Mandleson
The UK ambassador to the United States was pictured in the files, including one of him talking to an unidentified woman while in his underwear. While this photo was undated, Sky News claimed they'd confirmed the location was in Epstein's Paris flat.
A spokesperson for Mandelson had previously told the publication: "No one can say who or where the photo was taken. Lord Mandelson has absolutely no idea or indeed whether it has any connection to Epstein at all."
Documents in the files also alleged that Epstein had made three separate payments totalling $75,000 (£55,000) in 2003 and 2004 to Mandelson, accusations which he believed 'to be false' and 'of which I have no record or recollection'.
Days after Andrew's arrest, Mandelson was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later released on bail pending further investigation.
According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, 300 celebrities were mentioned in the files, though it was noted that the names appeared in a 'wide variety of contexts'.
Topics: Prince Andrew, UK News, Royal Family
Emma Rosemurgey