In the middle of a seemingly carefree moment inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, Johanna Sjoberg felt Prince Andrew’s hand suddenly move to her breast as she sat on his lap for what he called a “funny” photo. The touch was deliberate, unmistakable—and completely unwelcome.
For years she stayed mostly silent, haunted by the memory. Now she has broken her silence, speaking clearly and unflinchingly: “I saw Prince Andrew abuse and touch me.” Her account adds powerful weight to the growing chorus of allegations surrounding the royal’s ties to Epstein, painting a disturbing picture of entitlement and exploitation hidden behind palace walls.
Andrew has long denied any wrongdoing. But with Sjoberg’s words now public and impossible to ignore, the questions grow louder: How many more voices are still waiting to be heard?
In the middle of a seemingly carefree moment inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, Johanna Sjoberg felt Prince Andrew’s hand suddenly move to her breast as she sat on his lap for what he called a “funny” photo. The touch was deliberate, unmistakable—and completely unwelcome.
For years she stayed mostly silent, haunted by the memory. Now she has broken her silence, speaking clearly and unflinchingly: “I saw Prince Andrew abuse and touch me.” Her account adds powerful weight to the growing chorus of allegations surrounding the royal’s ties to Epstein, painting a disturbing picture of entitlement and exploitation hidden behind palace walls.
Andrew has long denied any wrongdoing. But with Sjoberg’s words now public and impossible to ignore, the questions grow louder: How many more voices are still waiting to be heard?
The incident took place in 2001 at Epstein’s grand Upper East Side townhouse. Sjoberg, then 21 and working as a massage therapist for Epstein, had been recruited while a college student in Florida. She described the evening in her 2016 deposition—given as part of Virginia Giuffre’s civil case against Ghislaine Maxwell and later unsealed—where Ghislaine Maxwell retrieved a grotesque caricature puppet of Prince Andrew, originally created for the BBC’s satirical program Spitting Image. A tag confirmed its identity.
The mood appeared lighthearted when someone suggested taking photographs. Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew sat together on a couch. The puppet was placed on Giuffre’s lap, its hand positioned on her breast in a mocking gesture. Sjoberg was then directed to sit on Andrew’s lap. As the camera flashed and laughter filled the room, Andrew placed his hand on Sjoberg’s breast. In her sworn testimony, she stated plainly: “Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.” The act occurred openly in the formal living room, with Epstein, Maxwell, and Giuffre all present and apparently unconcerned.
Sjoberg’s account does not allege further physical assault by the prince, but it captures a moment of blatant disregard for consent. What was framed as a prank quickly became an act of humiliation, revealing the casual objectification that reportedly thrived in Epstein’s circle.
This testimony stands alongside Virginia Giuffre’s far more serious allegations that she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to Prince Andrew for sex when she was 17. Giuffre’s 2021 civil lawsuit against the Duke of York resulted in a multimillion-dollar settlement in 2022, with no admission of liability from Andrew, who has repeatedly and categorically denied ever having any sexual contact with Giuffre or any recollection of meeting her.
Buckingham Palace has dismissed Sjoberg’s claims as “categorically untrue,” and Prince Andrew has consistently rejected any suggestion of improper conduct. Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of trafficking minors and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Sjoberg’s unflinching words reopen wounds and renew scrutiny. The puppet incident—grotesque, mocking, yet profoundly invasive—serves as a stark symbol of how power and privilege could erase boundaries and dignity. It forces society to confront an uncomfortable reality: how many other young women were drawn into similar or worse situations, too intimidated, ashamed, or disbelieved to speak?
Each survivor’s voice chips away at the long silence that once protected the powerful. As more documents are unsealed and testimonies surface, the questions persist, urgent and unanswered. Sjoberg’s courage ensures the memory of that unwelcome touch cannot be buried.
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