The UK’s Prince Andrew says he has no memory of meeting an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who says she was coerced into sex with him while underage, despite seemingly appearing alongside her in a 2001 photo.

While Andrew says he regrets spending time with the New York financier after he had been implicated in sex trafficking, the prince insisted in an interview with the BBC he did not recall ever meeting Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced into sex with Andrew between 1999 and 2002, during the time she says Epstein kept her as a “slave.”

“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”

Saying “I don’t remember meeting her” and “I never met her.” is two different things. In other words, he met her, he doesn’t remember when or where. Stop Prince Andrew while you’re ahead. Epstein had a safe filled with tapes and ledgers in that 72nd Street apartment. — Robin Samuels (@robinsamuels525) November 15, 2019

In spite of the denial, a photo reportedly taken in 2001 appears to show the prince with Giuffre, arm wrapped around her bare waist, inside the London home of Epstein’s then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

headlines of “I don’t recall meeting this lady” and “I let down the site” running above this picture of Prince Andrew and a picture of him with his arm around the waist of then-17 y/o Virginia Giuffre is probably not what Buckingham Palace was hoping for from this interview pic.twitter.com/Vv288lfHyR — a strange shrill to die on (@theshrillest) November 15, 2019

Though the royal palace was in no hurry to officially address the photo, anonymous supporters of Andrew told the Telegraph in August that the image is “a fake,” however Giuffre insists that is merely an excuse.

“This photo has been verified as an original and it’s been since given to the FBI and they’ve never contested that it’s a fake,” she told ‘60 Minutes’ earlier this month. “This is a real photo. That’s the very first time I met him.”

“He needs to stop with all of these lame excuses. We’re sick of hearing it.”

On his decision to stay with Epstein even after his sex trafficking conviction in 2008, Andrew says he now sees it was a poor choice, not befitting of royalty.

“I stayed with him and that’s…that’s…that’s the bit that…that…that, as it were, I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”

If the highly questionable suicide of Jeffrey Epstein had happened in another country, we would all be laughing at how corrupt that country is. Instead, those countries are laughing at us.

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