Andrew was stripped of all his royal patronages and military titles in January following a civil lawsuit brought by one of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking victims, Virginia Giuffre. Photo / Supplied
Andrew was stripped of all his royal patronages and military titles in January following a civil lawsuit brought by one of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking victims, Virginia Giuffre. Photo / Supplied
The Duke of York’s accuser has not launched her sex trafficking charity despite accepting a $2 million (NZ$3 million) donation from Prince Andrew as part of their out-of-court settlement, the Telegraph can reveal.
Virginia Giuffre created a website for Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (SOAR), in November 2021, at the height of her bitter civil case with the Duke, over claims that he had raped and sexually abused her when she was 17.
It replaced her former charity, Victims Refuse Silence, which was founded in 2015 but was wound down four years later.
At the time, Ms Giuffre hailed the launch of her new organisation and promised there would be “more information soon” on how to get involved.
When the civil case with the Duke was settled out of court in February 2022, the two sides issued a joint statement in which the Duke pledged to “demonstrate his regret” for his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims”.
SOAR is not thought to be officially registered as a non-profit with the Internal Revenue Service, the US governmental department with which charities file their annual accounts and are granted tax-exempt status.
Its website says it was incorporated as Victims Refuse Silence in 2015 but there have been no official filings by that organisation since 2019.
The organisation’s website states that SOAR is “dedicated to providing a safe and empowering space for survivors of sex trafficking to reclaim their stories and stand up for themselves and each other”.
Ms Giuffre retreated from the public eye when her case with the Duke was settled. Photo / Getty Images
It adds that although it officially launched in November 2021, “at this early stage, we are not yet accepting donations”.
A spokesman declined to comment, although one source insisted that there would be activity “soon”.
Ms Giuffre retreated from the public eye when her case with the Duke was settled and is not thought to have been in the best of health.
As part of the deal, both sides signed a one-year gagging clause which prevented them from speaking publicly about the case in any form. However, that part of the deal is due to expire next month, raising the prospect that she might return to public life.
The mother-of-three has spent the last year with her husband and children at their home in Australia but is believed to have signed a multi-million dollar deal to write her memoir, in which she is expected to detail the years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Epstein and others.
It may prove bad timing for the Duke as he mulls a potential return to public duties at a time when he is seeking to clear his name.
When the civil case with the Duke was settled out of court in February 2022, the two sides issued a joint statement in which the Duke pledged to “demonstrate his regret” for his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims”. Photo / Getty Images
Duke planning a legal fightback
Prince Andrew is understood to be speaking to his legal advisers about launching a fightback and wants to overturn the deal he struck with Ms Giuffre.
The Duke is understood to be consulting lawyers after she dropped a separate sexual abuse claim against the US lawyer Alan Dershowitz, admitting that she “may have made a mistake” in claiming he had abused her as a teenager.
Having always pleaded his innocence, he is understood to be examining ways in which he might be able to launch a fresh legal action that might restore his reputation.
Ms Giuffre has not commented on the development but one source close to her suggested it was nothing more than an “act of desperation” by the Duke in his ongoing campaign to rehabilitate himself.
Ghislaine Maxwell, the shamed British socialite currently serving 20 years in a Florida jail for sex trafficking, last week leapt to his defence in a filmed interview from her prison cell.
Her brother, Ian Maxwell, has also sought to defend him, releasing a photograph, published in the Telegraph, that he claimed cast doubt on Ms Giuffre’s claims.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 61, who was convicted of sex offences for her part in Jeffrey Epstein's sex abuse ring, made her latest claims from the Florida prison she is being held in as part of an interview on the UK TalkTV channel. Photo / TalkTV / AP
The image shows the bath in which the Duke is alleged to have engaged in sexual activity with Ms Giuffre.
Two of Maxwell’s acquaintances are sitting in the bath, fully clothed, wearing makeshift masks depicting Prince Andrew and Ms Giuffre.
Mr Maxwell told The Telegraph: “I am releasing my photographs now because the truth needs to come out.
“They show conclusively that the bath is too small for any sort of sex frolicking. There is no ‘Victorian bath’, as Giuffre has claimed, which is proved both by the attached plan of the bathroom and the photos themselves.”
