Andrew joins royals for Christmas party as unheard evidence from Johanna Sjoberg who royal ‘groped’ is set to be public
PRINCE Andrew today joined the royals for a Christmas party as new evidence is set to be made public.
Johanna Sjoberg, 42, accused Andrew of groping her at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York mansion in March 2001, according to deposition comments.
But now the Duke of York has been invited to the King’s family party at Windsor Castle.
The royal has previously missed out on family events following accusation he had sex with Virginia Giuffre when she was just 17.
Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.
He was excluded from the traditional Order of the Garter Day procession at Windsor Castle in June 2022.
And he missed the Trooping of the Colour to celebrate the King’s birthday in June 2023.
Royals previously confirmed Andrew will still be invited to private events.
At today’s gathering the grown-ups will dine in the castle’s State Rooms, while children under 16 eat together in St George’s Hall.
This means a promotion to the adults’ table for Edward and Sophie’s teenage son James Earl of Wessex, after he turned 16 last Sunday.
The annual bash is held before Christmas every year to include family members, such as the Kents and Gloucesters, who will not travel to Sandringham.
It comes amid renewed controversy as it was revealed material related to Ms Sjoberg will be unsealed in 14 days.
Giuffre broke her silence on Wednesday to ask “who’s on the naughty list?” as more than 170 of Epstein’s associates and victims are set to be unmasked.
She won a hard-fought bid for a fresh dossier of information related to the billionaire paedophile to be released on January 1.
Early this morning, Giuffre announced: “Merry early Christmas.”
She wrote on X/Twitter: “Dozens of Jeffrey Epstein associates, victims likely to publicly ID’d in court docs in coming weeks – thank you and many blessings for Judge Preska. A truth seeker & justice maker.”
Giuffre excitedly added: “There’s going to be a lot of nervous ppl over Christmas and New Years, 170 to be exact, who’s on the naughty list?”
In 2001 Andrew jokingly fondled a then 21-year-old Ms Sjoberg’s breasts, she has claimed.
At the time he was playing with a Spitting image puppet of himself, gifted to him by Epstein’s lover Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ms Sjoberg also appears to support Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts), who claimed she had sex with Andrew in 2001 when just 17.
The Duke of York denied those allegations and reached an out-of-court settlement with Ms Roberts.
In a deposition Ms Sjoberg said of her 2001 trip to Epstein: “I just remember someone suggesting a photo and they told us to get on the couch. And so Virginia and Andrew sat on the couch and they put the puppet on her lap.
“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.”
It was all done in “a joking manner” and “everybody laughed”, Ms Sjoberg said.
The new documents related to Ms Sjoberg — now a 42-year-old hairdresser living near Palm Beach, Florida — are among hundreds of files from 177 people.
They were part of a 2015 US defamation case by Ms Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell.
That case was settled but media sued to have the documents made public.
They have been released on a rolling basis since 2019.
Ms Sjoberg is already identified due to a 2021 story about her that Judge Preska cites as why she should not remain anonymous.
Ms Giuffre sued Andrew in 2021 for battery and infliction of emotional distress.
They settled in February 2022 for a reported £10million though he has always denied any wrongdoing and told the BBC in an interview he never remembered meeting Ms Roberts.
Maxwell, 60, is serving a 20-year jail term for charges including sex trafficking a minor.