Virginia Giuffre’s new book, released on Tuesday, repeats the claims she was trafficked for sex by paedophile financier, Jeffrey Epstein, to his powerful circle of friends, including Prince Andrew – an allegation that the royal has strongly denied. The release of the posthumous memoir by Ms Giuffre comes just days after Andrew announced he would no longer use his titles and honours, including the Duke of York.
Ms Giuffre, who settled a civil sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew, died at the age of 41 in April. She was a central figure in the downfall of Epstein, who was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
In subsequent lawsuits, it was said Ms Giuffre was a spa attendant as a teenager at Mar-a-Lago – US President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach club – when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in New York in June 2022 after being found guilty of helping to recruit his underage victims.
The harrowing account of Ms Giuffre’s life – titled Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice – come as the Metropolitan Police said it is “actively” looking into claims Andrew passed her date of birth and social security number to his bodyguard in a bid to dig up dirt for a smear campaign.
Allegations against Andrew
Ms Giuffre revealed she was hired as a masseuse for Epstein and was flown around the world for meetings with men at his orders, while she was 17 and 18. She alleged that she was forced to have sex three times with Prince Andrew, saying that she was introduced to Andrew in March 2001 while staying at Maxwell’s house near Hyde Park, London.
The extract, reported by The Guardian, states: “Maxwell woke me up that morning by announcing in a sing-songy voice: ‘Get out of bed, sleepyhead!’ It was going to be a special day, she said. Just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!”
© Getty ImagesThe memoir continues that Maxwell then took her shopping for the occasion. The extract states: “I put on the jeans and top, which left a strip of my stomach exposed. Maxwell wasn’t thrilled, but like most teenage girls then, I idolised Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and the third outfit was something I imagined the two of them might wear.”
She wrote that when she met Andrew he correctly guessed her age of 17 years. The extract states: “‘My daughters are just a little younger than you,’ he told me, explaining his accuracy.”
© GettyThe memoir added that Ms Giuffre went to get her camera for a photograph of the encounter to be taken, which Epstein took. In a Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in November 2019, Andrew denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre, saying: “I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.” And he also claimed to have no memory of the photograph with Ms Giuffre being taken and has questioned whether it was his own hand in the image.
The memoir also includes two other occasions Andrew was alleged to have had sex with Ms Giuffre, including in New York a month later and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands when she was around 18. Andrew strenuously denies all the allegations made by Ms Giuffre.
The civil sexual assault payout
In February 2022, Prince Andrew reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement with Ms Giuffre, after she sued him claiming she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with the royal when she was 17 and a minor under US law. In her memoir, Ms Giuffre did not divulge how much she was confidentially paid in 2022, but referred to reports “that his mother, the Queen of England, had footed the bill”. She is said to have received more than 12 million dollars from Andrew to settle her civil sexual assault case, despite the Prince claiming never to have met her.
© Getty ImagesVirginia wrote that, after receiving the money from the Prince, she began developing her Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (Soar) foundation to combat human trafficking.
“I look forward to disseminating some of the Crown’s money to do some good,” she said. She added: “Now that my settlement from Prince Andrew has come through, I have begun the slow process of turning my fledgling foundation, Soar, into a professionally run organisation. My goal is for Soar to combat human trafficking by supporting organisations that focus on prosecution, protection, and prevention.”
She said of the settlement announcement on 15 February 2022: “We issued a joint statement that made clear Prince Andrew would pay me money, though the amount was kept confidential (later it was reported that his mother, the Queen of England, had footed the bill).”
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