The Duke of York yesterday received a tour of the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, accompanied by a leading celebrity media lawyer who had represented his ex-wife.
The Duke, who faces ongoing pressure over his links to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, was joined on the golf course by Paul Tweed, who specialises in reputation management and privacy issues.
Tweed has previously worked with a string of high-profile clients including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Harrison Ford and Sarah, Duchess of York (Prince Andrew’s ex-wife), whom he has represented in cases involving libel and phone hacking since 2013.
Sources said he is not working for the Duke but is considered a family friend. He was photographed in conversation with the Duke at the seaside golf course in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The Duke arrived at the clubhouse on Monday morning and received a welcome from officials before a tour of the course, which recently hosted The Open. He is visiting the golf club in his role as founder of The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy.
The outing is one of Prince Andrew’s firsts in public since the scandal broke over his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was found hanged in his cell on 10 August 2019 in New York while facing fresh charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex.
Prince Andrew has been dogged by allegations of impropriety with under-age girls introduced to him by Epstein.
Buckingham Palace has issued strong denials in response to claims from a woman who said she was forced to have under-age sex with the duke.
Virginia Roberts alleged in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in some states in the US state. The claims were struck from the record by the court.
Buckingham Palace has called the allegations “false and without any foundation“, saying “any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors” by the duke was “categorically untrue“.
Prince Andrew said in a statement on 24 August 2019: “At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to (Epstein’s) arrest and conviction.”
News source: The Telegraph
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