Virginia Giuffre dies, ending chapter in Prince Andrew scandal

The infamous image of the Duke with Virginia Giuffre and the now incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo / Supplied

• Virginia Giuffre’s death closes a major royal scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew.
• Giuffre’s accusations led to Andrew stepping back from public life in 2019.
• In 2022, she settled out of court with Andrew for millions of pounds, no liability admitted.

The death of Virginia Giuffre brings to a tragic close the most unedifying and damaging royal scandal in living memory.

Giuffre, who has died by suicide at her farm in Australia, will be remembered as the determined survivor of sex trafficking and abuse who helped bring about the downfall of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and, in the court of public opinion, the Duke of York.

She was a “fierce warrior”, her family said, and “will always be remembered for her incredible courage”.

Her tenacity in pursuing the Duke, whom she accused of sexually assaulting or raping her when she was 17 after she was allegedly trafficked to London, led to him “stepping back” from public life in 2019. He has not returned to it since.

Prince Andrew has always denied wrongdoing, and the claims have never been tested in court. He has never been arrested.

In 2022, Giuffre agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew, understood to be worth millions of dollars but with no admission of liability.

In a now-notorious interview on the BBC’s Newsnight, the Duke insisted that he had “no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever”.

His alibis and excuses, of being at Pizza Express in Woking and being unable to sweat, resulted in nationwide ridicule in Britain, while he was heavily criticised for his lack of clearly stated regret for his involvement with Epstein, or sympathy for survivors of abuse.

The association with the Epstein scandal had tainted Prince Andrew’s life since at least 2010, when he was photographed walking with Epstein in Central Park, New York, even after the latter’s release from prison for pleading guilty to prostituting minors.

In 2015, specific accusations relating to Andrew emerged in court documents, with a grim legal back-and-forth lasting years, amid growing calls for him to be interviewed by police and in open court.

The last-ditch settlement, said to have been encouraged by Queen Elizabeth II and advisers who did not want the spectacle of a prince giving evidence – or lack of it – under oath, brought both relief and frustration.

“We hail Virginia’s victory today,” said Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing eight victims of Epstein, at the time. “She has accomplished what no one else could: getting Prince Andrew to stop his nonsense and side with sexual abuse victims.”

He did, indeed, fall quiet.

Quiet life of the prince

At Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew retired, for a while, to a life without purpose: seen only out riding, visiting his elderly mother while she was still alive, and spending time with his ex-wife, daughters, and grandchildren.

In the early 2020s, after the Newsnight interview, there were hopes from his few remaining allies that he would somehow make a return to public life.

In the model of John Profumo, it was thought, there was a world in which he could knuckle down to quiet charity work, rebuild a reputation, and reappear.

It has not come to pass.

The Duke has instead become embroiled in further scandal, not least the recent damaging links to an alleged Chinese spy.

He is now seen with the royal family in public only at events deemed “family occasions”: Sandringham at Christmas, Windsor at Easter.

The infamous Newsnight interview was later the subject of three-part TV series A Very Royal Scandal. Photo / Prime Video

Last weekend, he appeared eager to keep away from the public and media, ducking inside St George’s Chapel for an Easter Matins service before the rest of his family, and striding off quickly afterwards.

His brother the King has lost patience with his dogged determination to stay at Royal Lodge, cutting off his formerly extensive funding.

The Prince of Wales, the future King, will not countenance a return to duty for his uncle in his reign.

The death of Giuffre will weigh heavily on all involved in this most shameful of episodes: much wider and more serious than unproven accusations against one prince, but linked to him for life nonetheless.

“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight,” her family said yesterday.

The Duke, 65, has not commented on Giuffre’s death and is unlikely to do so.

The death draws the most tragic of lines under a period of his life he hoped would end in redemption, and now will not.