Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has slammed reports that he had sexual relations with an underage girl as 'salacious lies' and defended him as a 'humongously good man'.
'I won't stand by - because I know what it feels like to have salacious lies made up about you - and not support him so publicly,' she told Matt Lauer.
She said the claims against her former husband - whom she called 'a great father and humongously good man' - were 'shockingly accusatory allegations which I don't think are right'.
'I won't stand by and have his character defamed,' she said. 'My integrity and the American people know my integrity and my integrity is of a great man and I will not have one word said about him on any level. Any level.'
The pair, who divorced in 1996 after 10 years of marriage, remain good friends, she said. They have two daughters together, Beatrice, 26, and Eugenie, 24.
'The great news is that Andrew and I and the girls are the best family unit there ever is,' she said.
Andrew has faced mounting controversy after he was named in U.S. court documents as having sex with a woman when she was a minor.
Virginia Roberts - now said to be a married mother-of-three in her 30s - alleges that between 1999 and 2002 she 'was forced to have sexual relations with this prince when she was a minor' in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.
Others named in the lawsuit have also denied the claims. Attorney and former Harvard Law school professor Alan Dershowitz said the accusations were 'totally false and made up'.
The accusation, which is contained in a motion filed in Florida, is part of a lawsuit over how federal prosecutors handled Epstein's case. He was jailed for 18 months in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Two years after his 2009 release, Epstein was pictured in New York City with the prince, and their friendship was a source of controversy.
Andrew ultimately stepped down from his role as a U.K. trade ambassador in July 2011.
Court documents also allege that Andrew was among those who made 'efforts' to secure Epstein a favorable plea deal, but Buckingham Palace has denied this.
In a strongly-worded statement, a palace spokesman said: 'It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts.
'The allegations made are false and without any foundation.'
Welcome back Sarah!
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