“It was London. She said his name.” — A sensational new claim, a life lived in shadows, and a royal storm brewing

On a crisp evening in March 2001, some 17-year-old girl from Florida found herself thousands of miles from home — in London, of all places — and she told her friend: “I got to sleep with him.”
The “him” was none other than Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of the Queen, according to a witness whose name until recently has been hidden behind legal anonymity. The witness was Carolyn Andriano (then aged 14), who is now breaking silence. And the friend who texted? Virginia Roberts Giuffre (then Roberts).

This startling claim — that Roberts told Andriano of a London dinner and subsequent sexual encounter with Prince Andrew when she was 17 — is the first ever contemporaneous independent account of that alleged evening. It arrives amid swirling legal disputes, public fury, royal fallout and the ongoing unraveling of the web spun by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

This is the story of how it was told — and what it might mean.

1. The text message that lit a fuse

In Florida in early 2001, Carolyn Andriano was cleaning her room, listening to music, and squabbling with her mother — in other words, being a fairly typical 14-year-old. Then her mobile pinged. It was Virginia, thousands of miles away in London.

“You’ll never guess who I’m with…” the message read.
“Who?” Carolyn replied rapidly.
“I’m in London with Jeffrey and Maxwell and Prince Andrew,” came the response.

Andriano exclaims: “I said, ‘Bull s**t.’ I was calling her out on it — but she swore it was true.”

Indeed, Roberts was then among a circle of vulnerable young women recruited into a sexual-abuse network run by Maxwell and Epstein; Andriano would be drawn in too. But before that, Roberts allegedly popped into London for a dinner with the Prince. According to Carolyn’s new interview, it was Roberts who later showed her a photograph taken in London: Roberts, smiling; the Prince with his arm around her; Maxwell in the background. And she told Carolyn plainly, “I got to sleep with him.”

Carolyn recalled, shocked: “I said, ‘What? You’re f****** with me.’ And she said, ‘No — I got to sleep with him.’ She didn’t seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool.”

If true, this account adds a dramatic layer to the long-running allegations against Prince Andrew — allegations he staunchly denies.

2. Into the “House of Sin”

It was not just London. It was the darker world that lay beneath — that of Epstein’s sprawling Palm Beach mansion, and the young girls recruited to service his sexual desires and those of his powerful friends.

Andriano, who ultimately became a key witness against Maxwell, testified that she entered that world at age 14 — recruited by Virginia Roberts, taken to Epstein’s villa, paid in cash, manipulated, assaulted. Her motion-picture life became something far more sinister.

She told the court that Maxwell would pick her up, bring her to the house “maybe three-four times a week” during her mid-teens. The girls were told: Don’t say your age. They were put in tight clothes, shorts, spaghetti-strap tops, cleavage exposed. They were asked to give “massages” to Epstein. And the truth behind the word “massage” was grim.

In her testimony, Andriano recalled a morning where Epstein lay nude, face down on the massage table, Maxwell looking on, Roberts setting up the table, Andriano watching — just watching — while Roberts climbed on top of Epstein. Then Maxwell asked Andriano for her telephone number. She was paid three $100 bills. And she came back, again and again, until she turned 18 and was no longer “useful.” Business Insider+1

Andriano said: “There’s no amount of money in this world that will ever mend what was stolen — my innocence as a child.”

She wanted her story told. She waived anonymity. And in December 2021, Maxwell was convicted of multiple charges including sex-trafficking a minor; Andriano’s testimony was pivotal. ABC News+1

In a blistering interview, she told the Mail: “I want all young women to know what happened to me… I am a survivor.”

3. The London dinner and the royal link

Back to London. The chain of events alleged: Roberts flew to the UK in March 2001. She texted Carolyn from London that she was going to dinner with Prince Andrew, Maxwell and Epstein. Upon her return she produced the photograph showing the Prince, Roberts and Maxwell. She told Carolyn: “I got to sleep with him.”

This is where the story diverges: Roberts claims she was trafficked by Epstein & Maxwell into sexual encounters, including with Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew has consistently denied ever meeting her — or if meeting, remembers nothing. Photographic evidence (the famous image of the Prince with Roberts and Maxwell) exists, though his side has suggested it may have been manipulated or mis-labelled. Wikipedia+2Business Insider+2

Andriano’s interview says she believes Roberts. “I asked her if she’d been to the palace. And she said ‘I got to sleep with him.’ I said ‘What? You’re f****** with me’ and she said ‘no, I got to sleep with him’. She didn’t seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool.”

Roberts later made public allegations, and eventually sued the Prince in U.S. courts. But the new wrinkle here is the independent peer-to-peer text exchange from 2001. It’s contemporaneous, predates the public allegations by many years, and suggests Roberts told someone else of the alleged sex with the Prince at the time it allegedly happened. Irish Examiner summarised: “At the trial, Andriano testified … that it was Giuffre who introduced her as a 14-year-old to Maxwell and Epstein. … She claimed that Roberts told her in 2001 that she slept with Prince Andrew.” Irish Examiner

If verified, that adds weight to the Roberts/Giuffre narrative — though still far from definitive proof.

4. The legal war, the settlement and the royal peril

The legal drama that surrounds the Prince is enormous. Roberts (Giuffre) sued Prince Andrew in U.S. civil court, alleging sexual assault when she was 17. She claimed three occasions in 2001. The Prince denied the allegations and said he did not recall meeting her. Wikipedia+1

His lawyers attempted to get the case thrown out, arguing Roberts had already signed a 2009 settlement with Epstein for £370,000 and had waived rights to sue other defendants. The judge’s decision on whether to allow trial loomed. The settlement option remained on the table for the Prince.

Now, with Andriano’s newly revealed contemporaneous claim of Roberts’ London evening with the Prince, the Prince’s position may become more precarious. The photograph of Roberts and the Prince at Maxwell’s London house continues to loom large. The Prince’s side maintains the photo might be fake.

Publicly, Buckingham Palace has declined to comment — saying the matter is an “ongoing legal matter.” But the implications for the Royal Family are stark. Sources say the Prince could face a full U.S. trial — a scenario more damaging than any settlement. The chilling truth: if a civil trial proceeds and the Prince loses, reputational and legal costs could be enormous.

5. The human cost — Carolyn’s life after abuse

Carolyn Andriano is not just a witness. She is a brutal reminder of what this world does to a young girl. Today she is 35, married, a mother of five (ages 5 to 17). But her life has been ravaged by the trauma of her teen years. She has worked as a stripper and escort, been addicted to drugs and alcohol, served 52 days in prison for fraud, suffers mental-health issues, and takes medications daily to manage the after-effects of what she endured.

She said:

“I was in the sex industry. It was easy. That was what I was taught. I felt worthless. I felt like I was just put here on Earth to be used and abused sexually. I looked at myself in the mirror one time and just cried and cried.”

“But I waive my right to anonymity. I am doing this because I want all young women to know what happened to me… I’m not going to let Maxwell and Epstein ruin my life any more.”

She also acknowledged her former friend Virginia Roberts, with complicated words: “Although I believed her account at the time, I don’t think Virginia deserves anything less than what Maxwell is getting because she trafficked me into a world of spiralling downward slopes…” Her anger at Roberts is clear: “She introduced me.”

Yet Carolyn also drew strength from the fact that the jury believed her testimony in Maxwell’s trial. “I’m glad they believed me, and that it was wrong what Maxwell did to me. I had a voice and it was heard.”

Her words offer a jarring duality: survivor, witness, victim, fighter. The moment she testified, rosary beads in hand, husband giving a small thumbs-up. She remembers: “I was determined to have the strength to have this woman put away for what she did to me and other young women.”

Her story intertwines with that of Roberts/Giuffre and the Prince — the underbelly of elite power and secrecy.

6. Why the London story matters

At first glance, the claim may seem like just another wild allegation in a scandal already bursting at the seams. But it matters for several reasons:

Contemporaneity: The text from Roberts to Andriano in March 2001 suggests she told someone then, not after the scandal broke. That reduces the possibility of retrospective fabrication.
Independent witness: Andriano’s account is separate from Roberts’ own claims. It is additional, not derivative.
Royal proximity: Any credible meeting between a minor sex-trafficking victim and a senior royal raises profound questions of power, access, accountability.
Legal stakes: If the sexual-encounter claim with the Prince gains traction, the legal and reputational risk to the Duke of York and the Royal Family spikes.

Of course, many caveats apply: the Prince denies memory of meeting Roberts; there remains no publicly verified forensic proof of the claimed encounter; Roberts’ credibility has been questioned. But the new element — the peer text and independent witness — shifts the narrative.

7. The Prince’s predicament

For Prince Andrew, the fallout continues to deepen. He has already stepped back from many public duties. He now faces a civil lawsuit in the U.S., which could go to trial or end in settlement. If trial proceeds, the potential exposure to cross-examination is daunting: questions about his associations with Epstein, Maxwell, young women, and events in London, New York, and the Caribbean. And the image of the photograph – Roberts with the Prince and Maxwell – haunts him.

His legal team has argued Roberts waived rights via the 2009 settlement with Epstein and that the case lacks specificity. A judge’s ruling on the trial question is anticipated. Some insiders warn that if the Prince goes to trial and loses, the damage would be historic. Others say a settlement remains the “only realistic option.”

And at the same time: the Royal Family is under pressure. Sources say the Queen will not finance the Prince’s legal bills, and he is said to be trying to sell a £17 million Swiss chalet in Verbier to raise funds. The claim: his mother will not pay. The Guardian described that “attritional impact” on the family is real.

In short: the risk is no longer just personal — it has institution-wide implications for the monarchy’s integrity.

8. A final scene: The two girls, their diverging paths

Picture this: Florida, early 2001. Carolyn, 14, with the restless energy of a teenager. Virginia, 17, back from an international trip. She shows Carolyn a photo: a big house in London, Maxwell’s townhouse perhaps, the Prince’s arm around her. She says: “I got to sleep with him.” Carolyn laughs in disbelief, then accepts it — it’s bizarre, shocking—but within the strange world these girls inhabit, it seems plausible.

Fast-forward two decades. Virginia becomes the face of the scandal: lawsuits, public interviews, a global movement supporting survivors. Carolyn becomes a witness, battered and broken, yet speaking out. Their shared early moment of connection — teenage girls drawn into an abuse-machine — is now playing out on a much larger stage.

When asked today about the Prince’s name, Carolyn says:

“I never got to ask Virginia about Prince Andrew again after she told me about it. She’d told me never to repeat it again.”
So she did.

9. What happens now

The London claim has added a flashpoint to an already charged saga. For the Prince: the question remains whether his U.S. civil case will proceed to trial. For survivors: whether this new testimony will give further voice to their cause. For the public: whether institutions of power can be held to account.

And for Carolyn Andriano, the message is simple:

“I want people to know these terrible things have happened to me and… I’m a survivor.”

Whether the world listens or acts is another matter. But the reverberations of a 2001 text and a 17-year-old’s claim may well echo for years.

10. Coda: The weight of memory

On a quiet afternoon in Palm Beach, Andriano looks out at the sea. The old house where she first met Epstein is long gone; many details have faded. But she remembers the photo Roberts showed her. She remembers the message. She remembers banging the rosary beads in court.

“Every day I think about whether there’s someone who’s going to put my girls in the situation I was in. I live with fear for my girls.”

And she keeps fighting. Because memory, in the end, is both debt and weapon.

End note
This story is still unfolding. Documents remain sealed, legal motions await rulings, the truth in full may never be known publicly. What we have are testimonies — raw, painful, conflicting — and the weight of power bearing down. The London dinner allegation, if substantiated further, could become a historical pivot in this case. For now, it stands as a reminder that when the powerful operate in shadows, even the faintest whisper of evidence may matter.