Prince Andrew 'believed sleeping with me was birthright': Epstein accuser
What's the story
Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl, has leveled serious allegations against Prince Andrew. The book, which will be released next week, was co-written with author Amy Wallace and is based on Giuffre's life as a victim of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein. In the book, she describes three alleged sexual encounters with Prince Andrew, including one at Ghislaine Maxwell's London home. Giuffre is one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein, who also brought Prince Andrew's involvement to the surface.
Allegations detailed
Giuffre recalls meeting the Duke of York in London
Giuffre recalls meeting Prince Andrew in London in March 2001 when she was 17. When they met, the royal was asked to guess Giuffre's age. She writes, "The Duke of York, who was then 41, guessed correctly: 17." The memoir also describes an infamous photograph from that night, where Epstein took a picture of Giuffre with Andrew and Maxwell. "I ran to get a Kodak FunSaver from my room... Epstein snapped the photo," she writes.
Encounter claims
'He was particularly attentive to my feet'
Giuffre alleges that after dinner and a visit to Tramp nightclub, Maxwell told her to "do for him what you do for Jeffrey." She writes that Andrew was "entitled - as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright." She also claims he was "particularly attentive to my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches." Epstein allegedly paid her $15,000 for this encounter. The book details two other instances where Andrew and Giuffre were intimate.
Manipulation and struggles
Why victims like Giuffre didn't leave Epstein
The book also tells about Giuffre's struggle with drug dependency, revealing she took up to eight Xanax a day at times. She writes about why victims like her didn't leave Epstein: "How can you complain about being abused... when you could so easily have stayed away?" "But that stance discounts what many of us had been through before we encountered Epstein...Several of us had been molested or raped as children; many of us were poor or even homeless."
Denial and settlement
Prince Andrew has denied any wrongdoing
Prince Andrew has always denied sleeping with Giuffre. He reached a financial out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 2022 but continues to deny the allegations. In a BBC Newsnight interview, he said: "I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened." An email from February 2011 contradicted his claim of cutting ties with Epstein after December 2010, as well. Giuffre died by suicide in April. Meanwhile, Epstein passed away the same way while awaiting trial in jail.