PNO – Virginia Giuffre, one of the longtime accusers of notorious underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, sued Prince Andrew on August 9, alleging that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, forcing her to repeatedly publicly denounce his actions.
Prince Andrew inside St. George’s Chapel during the funeral of his father, Prince Philip, at Windsor Castle, England.
Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in Manhattan federal court, where Epstein was charged with sex trafficking, a month before he committed suicide at age 66 in August 2019 in an adjacent federal prison where Epstein was awaiting trial.
Giuffre has repeatedly made allegations against Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstein’s former girlfriend) and Prince Andrew, but this is the first lawsuit she has brought against Andrew directly. The move increases public pressure on Prince Andrew, even as he remains out of the reach of the courts.
In her statement, Giuffre said she “holds Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me.”
“The powerful and wealthy cannot escape responsibility for their actions. I hope other victims will see that they cannot live in silence and fear, but “reclaim their lives” by speaking out and demanding justice,” Giuffre said.
“I have not come to this decision lightly,” she added, explaining: “As a mother and a wife, my family comes first but I know that if I do not pursue this action, I will be letting them down.”
In late 2019, Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight that he had never had sex with Giuffre, insisting that “it did not happen.” Andrew said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Giuffre and told the interviewer that there were “some things that were not right” about Giuffre’s account of the two meeting in 2001.
The interview was widely panned by critics, who said Andrew appeared to want nothing to do with Epstein’s victims. The prince has since stepped back from royal duties.
Giuffre has previously said that Maxwell (Epstein’s girlfriend) “recruited” her when she was 17, and that she was sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell from 1999 to 2002.
Giuffre filed a lawsuit on August 9 seeking punitive damages and unspecified damages, alleging that the prince repeatedly abused her when she was under 18.
Throughout the process, Giuffre was subjected to “explicit or implied threats” by Epstein, Maxwell and Andrew to consent to sexual acts with the prince, the lawsuit says. Giuffre said she “feared being killed or injured, or other consequences, for not complying with the ‘well-connected, wealthy and powerful’ triad.”
Giuffre said Andrew sexually abused her on one occasion at Maxwell’s London home, when Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew forced her to have unwanted sex with the prince. On another occasion, the prince sexually abused Giuffre at Epstein’s New York mansion, when Maxwell forced Giuffre and another victim to sit on Andrew’s lap so he could touch her, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also alleges Andrew sexually abused Giuffre on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.
The lawsuit adds that Andrew knew her age at the time but engaged in sexual acts “to satisfy his sexual desires.”
The lawsuit was filed under the Child Victims Act, a law enacted by New York state in 2019 that allows victims to sue for abuse that occurred when they were children.
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court, where she faces trial in November. She is being held without bail.
Manhattan federal prosecutors have formally requested to speak with Britain’s Prince Andrew, as he is “part of” investigations into Epstein’s alleged prostitution.
The request, similar to a subpoena, was made under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, an agreement between the two countries to share evidence and information in criminal cases. US prosecutors are said to have made a formal request through the British government to question Prince Andrew.
