PRINCE Andrew and ex Sarah Ferguson’s aides contacted an online troll in a bid to discredit the Duke’s sex accuser, a report claims.
The advisers reportedly approached Molly Skye Brown after she claimed to have information proving the infamous photo of Andrew with Virginia Roberts had been “doctored”.
Ms Brown called the approach “desperate” and claims she gave the messages to the FBI, it has been reported.
Virginia, a trafficked sex slave of Jeffrey Epstein, alleges she was forced to have sex with the prince three times – claims Andrew denies.
She alleges she first slept with the Duke in London in 2001 – the same night the photograph was taken.
According to the Mail on Sunday, advisers of the Duke and his ex-wife contacted Ms Brown after she trolled Virginia on Twitter for months.
The report claims Sarah Ferguson’s aide Antonia Marshall approached the troll and thanked her for her “online support” after Ms Brown alleged online that the 2001 pic was fake.
Ms Brown reportedly claims Marshall suggested a meeting with herself and the Duchess of York and that she could pass on a greeting to the Queen.
She is reported to have said about the monarch: “We are all one big family and see each other all the time.”
The pair chatted on WhatsApp and emails and eventually had a “lengthy” conversation about the “photoshopped” image, the report says.
Ms Marshall is then alleged to have suggested setting up a “spy” Twitter account to get information from Epstein’s victims.
The dummy account would have been used to ensnare another woman they suspected of doctoring the photo, it is claimed.
The Mail on Sunday reports that Ms Marshall does not remember having such a conversation with Brown.
Later, Prince Andrew’s PR specialist Mark Gallagher reportedly contacted Ms Brown.
It is claimed he sent a message saying: “I’d like to talk to you in the round about the important distinction you have drawn between survivors and – in effect – enablers.
“That gets to the heart of this.”
This appears to relate to a claim by Ms Brown that Virginia was an “enabler” for sex offender Epstein.
Virginia, who is now happily married and uses the surname Guiffre, strongly denies Brown’s allegations and has blocked her online “because of her widespread lies.”
Ms Brown has also claimed Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s alleged “pimp” – tried to recruit her at a kids’ gym in Florida aged 14.
Maxwell denies all allegations of misconduct made against her.
Ms Brown claims she gave the royal aides “some evidence the photo was doctored” but insists she then passed their messages to the FBI.
The troll’s claim that the image of Andrew with Virginia is “photoshopped” is not backed up by experts.
Hany Farid, a digital forensics and image analysis specialist at the University of California, said: “I don’t see any obvious signs of manipulation.”
Prince Andrew’s team has been approached by the Sun Online for comment.
His representatives declined to answer a series of questions put to them by the Mail on Sunday.
A source close to the Duke told the paper: “The exchange with Molly Skye Brown was not out of the ordinary.
“It would be very easy to over interpret the subsequent conversations.
“The plain fact of the matter is none of this went further than an initial discussion.”
Andrew was forced to quit as a senior royal following a disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight in late-2019 in which he said he did not regret his relationship with convicted paedophile Epstein.
The prince denies all allegations of misconduct made against him.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking minors.
His death was ruled as suicide.
Epstein’s former lover Ghislaine Maxwell is currently jailed in New York and faces trial this year.
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