PRINCE Andrew has hosted a shooting party at his mansion — as pals claims he is in turmoil at being stripped of his titles by the Queen.
Sources say his dire situation has now dawned on him, with one telling The Celeb Report on Sunday: “The penny has finally dropped.”
But despite his angst, around a dozen family friends were hosted on Friday night at his 31-room Royal Lodge home before going on a shoot at Windsor Great Park.
It was believed to have been a Christmas present from the Queen to Princess Eugenie, 31, and her husband Jack, 35, who invited along family friends.
Andrew, 61, and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 62, did not go on the shoot itself, but drove their Range Rover to join the shooting party for lunch at the York Club, a social venue, two miles away.
A source said: “It seems quite brazen of Andrew to host a party and let his family go shooting with all the controversy raging.”
It comes as The Celeb Report on Sunday can reveal that two new mystery witnesses, who have never spoken out before, are being pursued by Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers in her sex case against him.
They can allegedly place Andrew and Virginia at Epstein’s homes in Manhattan and the Caribbean.
Virginia’s team yesterday announced legal requests to quiz Shukri Walker, who previously told The Celeb Report she partied with Virginia and Andy in Tramps nightclub in London on the evening of the alleged assault
They have also demanded a deposition from Andy’s former equerry, Major Robert Olney, whose name appeared in Epstein’s “black book”.
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Meanwhile, Andrew’s lawyers want signed statements from Virginia’s psychiatrist and husband, as they question her claim she suffered emotional distress and apply to dismiss the case on grounds she does not live in the US.
They also want to question her psychiatrist over claims she “may suffer from false memories”.
But neither team has so far submitted requests to question Fergie or Andy’s two daughters, Princesses Beatrice, 33, and Eugenie, over his alibi — or any of the Duke’s bodyguards.
Sources close to Andrew claim he is “feeling like his insides have been ripped out” after the Queen stripped him of titles, patronages and the use of HRH status on Thursday after she was pressed by Charles and William.
A close friend of the Duke said: “He is in turmoil. Up until now, on advice of his lawyers, he didn’t think it would go this far.
“But he has now finally realised how bad the situation is and feels he has let the Queen down.
“He desperately wants to make amends, although he accepts that it will take a long time. He is relying on the love and support of his family to get through this.”
Yesterday’s shooting party is believed to have been organised by Eugenie.
Around a dozen of her friends had dinner at the mansion on Friday night.
Andrew was photographed yesterday lunchtime leaving Royal Lodge in his Range Rover beside his loyal ex-wife Fergie.
There are calls for Andrew, who has now been made a private citizen by the Queen, to lose the £30million mansion he shares with Fergie, along with his taxpayer-funded round-the-clock security.
The stricken Duke has been holed-up inside his home with his £2,000-an-hour lawyers since the Queen summoned him to Windsor Castle on Thursday.
This weekend, lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic issued legal applications to compel witnesses outside the US to give statements.
They want to speak to Shukri Walker after she described to The Celeb Report in August 2020 seeing Prince Andrew at London’s Tramps nightclub in 2001.
‘KEY TESTIMONY’
That was around the time Virginia says she partied with the Duke before being sexually abused by him at Ghislaine Maxwell’s Mayfair townhouse.
The legal document names The Celeb Report article.
Shukri told The Celeb Report she wanted to speak out about what she saw after Andrew denied knowing his accuser during his Newsnight interview in 2019.
She claimed: “I can remember exactly where they were sitting.
“He looked like he was having a great time. He was with this young girl. But she wasn’t smiling. It was the opposite of smiles.”
The Celeb Report on Sunday can also reveal two new witnesses who could place Andrew and Virginia together in New York and the Caribbean.
One is said to be a woman “in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit” who saw Andrew and Virginia at the billionaire paedophile’s New York mansion.
The other allegedly saw the royal and Giuffre together in New York and the Caribbean.
A source told The Celeb Report on Sunday: “These are two witnesses who have emerged since Virginia filed her lawsuit against Andrew last summer.
“Virginia’s lawyers know just how key their testimony could be.”
Virginia’s attorney, David Boies, said last month that he had up to six witnesses who could give evidence placing her with Andrew.
Legal papers released in the US show the Duke’s team wants to question under oath Virginia’s husband Robert Giuffre and psychiatrist Dr Judith Lightfoot.
Sources close to the Duke’s legal case say they are entitled to test her claims, determine her damages and examine what she told her therapist, because she has put her mental health at issue by suing for emotional distress damages.
They also want to use the depositions to explore her claim to have “been under threat of death or bodily harm from Epstein and Maxwell” when she was sex trafficked.
They are seeking medical records and want to question the psychiatrist over the issue of a “theory of false memories” in connection with Virginia’s account.
Prince Andrew has vowed to clear his name and sources close to the Duke say he is prepared to give a sworn deposition via video link next month.
A trial has been ordered between September and December this year.
