Prince Andrew's Friends Are Reportedly Calling the Allegations Against Him a "Witch Hunt"

Prince Andrew is doing his best to distance himself from the Jeffrey Epstein case, and it looks like the royal triage team is using a tried-and-true tactic to keep the prince in the clear. Vanity Fair reports that Andrew's team is allegedly using a Donald Trump-approved plan: talking about how large the royal's hands are.

After British tabloidThe Daily Mail published photos of Prince Andrew leaving a London nightclub with accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, sources told the press that the photos had to have been fabricated, because the prince's hands appeared too small. Sources even took a line from Trump's post-#MeToo defense, comparing the investigation into Andrew's involvement in the Epstein case a "witch hunt."

In real life, VF notes, "Andrew's fingers are chubby." By comparison, the hands in the photo feature thinner, slender hands, "like a girl's fingers," a source told the Telegraph. That same source went on to insist that the original image was never released. "A tabloid newspaper paid a lot of money years ago for a copy of this photo. But no one has ever seen the original. Doesn’t that seem strange? Sadly — it seems to us — this girl is simply out to make a name for herself."

Prince Andrew has released multiple official statements, a rarity for a royal. In his latest message, he admitted that he stayed in Epstein's residence, but saw nothing that related to his case.

"I met Mr. Epstein in 1999. During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences," he said in an official statement. "At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction."