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By Andrea Peyser
January 26, 2015

It's time for Prince Andrew to man-up

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a k a “Randy Andy,” the slacker second son of Queen Elizabeth II, fifth in line to the British throne, had an opportunity to announce to the world that he did not have sexual relations with that woman.

Instead, he said something weirder.

“Firstly, I think I must, [and] want, for the record, to refer to the events that have taken place in the last few weeks, and I just wish to reiterate and to reaffirm the statements which have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace,” the prince, 54, declared Thursday, speaking gibberish to a room filled with business leaders and reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“My focus is on my work, and this evening’s reception allows me to tell you about just a couple of the initiatives I have founded and am passionate about,’’ he said.

A reporter violated royal protocol and asked the prince a legitimate question, especially since it was the first time he publicly addressed allegations that he had enjoyed intimate liaisons with a teen “sex slave.”

“Will you be making a statement under oath?” He walked out of the room, stone-faced, without answering.

This wasn’t the kind of passionate initiative about which we’d hoped the prince would reiterate and reaffirm.

Royal watchers on both sides of the Atlantic are transfixed by claims made by American Virginia Roberts, now a 31-year-old married mother of three. She swore, in graphic detail, in an affidavit filed last week in Florida federal court, that she was recruited by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to serve the sexual whims of American billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein and those of his pals.

The 62-year-old convicted pedophile and registered sex offender, she alleged, took her on a kinky tour of the world on his private Boeing 727 jet from 1999 to 2002, starting when she was just 15 years old. She said she was among a stable of mainly underage girls pimped out by Epstein to rich and powerful men, presumably so that he might gather information on them that he would use for blackmail.

The pervy punk delivered her body to Prince Andrew on three occasions, she claimed, in London, at Epstein’s New York City mansion, and on his private island in the Virgin Islands, the first time paying her $15,000.

She sexually serviced the prince, Roberts said, starting when she was 17 years old.

Robert said she took part in an orgy with Epstein, Prince Andrew and “approximately” eight other young lovelies in 2001.

“I knew he was a member of the British royal family, but I just called him ‘Andy,’ ” she said.

Buckingham Palace officials have vehemently denied the prince exercised a kind of droit du seigneur with a teenager several years older than his two daughters with ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York.

Lawyer and Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who has defended Epstein, angrily denies Roberts’ claim that she had sex with him at least six times.

Included in court papers, in which Roberts is referred to as “Jane Doe No. 3,” is a photograph of Prince Andrew with his left arm wrapped around her bare midriff. Both smile. Along with the snap, which Roberts said was taken by Epstein, is a letter to the prince from Roberts’ lawyers, Paul Cassell and Bradley Edwards, asking him to answer questions under oath.

That letter was rejected by Buckingham Palace, the lawyers said, and returned to them.

In her sworn statement, Roberts said she never had sex, or saw anyone else having sex, with former President Bill Clinton. He visited Epstein’s “orgy island” in 2002 accompanied by two of his host’s regular girlfriends and “two young girls” from New York, Roberts told lawyers in a newly unearthed 2011 interview obtained by Radar Online.

One thing is clear in this sordid mess: At least one person is lying.

But even a man with royal blood coursing through his veins must show some compassion to the damaged woman who claims he took sexual liberties with her. He must address these serious allegations using common English, not the mumbo jumbo he spewed in Davos.

Roberts isn’t suing the prince, Epstein or anyone else person. She is one of two Jane Does trying to join a civil lawsuit against the US Department of Justice, first filed by two other Jane Does in 2008. They claim government officials violated their rights — by not informing them that Epstein had copped a plea and would not be prosecuted on federal charges.

(He pleaded guilty in a Florida state court in 2008 to a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and served about 13 months behind bars.)

All four women have settled civil claims with Epstein out of court and received confidential payouts. He’s reportedly settled 17 civil claims so far. I consider Prince Andrew to be just another elitist who excels at playing golf and has questionable taste in a best pal. It’s time to man up, Andy.

Put aside your princely privilege, and answer some tough questions.

Such as — why the devil did you hang out with that unspeakable slimeball Jeffrey Epstein?