Prince Andrew latest: Virginia Giuffre says she was ‘a toy to be passed around’

After the King’s historic decision to evict his brother and strip his official titles, the former prince must contend not only with his straitened circumstances and the public shaming, but also with the fact that he has long deluded himself about always putting ‘duty first’, says Sean O’Grady:

The Ministry of Defence is “working to remove” Andrew’s last military title, after the King stripped his brother of his peerages and the title of prince amid the continuing fallout of the Epstein scandal.

John Healey, the defence minister, said Andrew would be stripped of his honorary rank of vice-admiral, adding that ministers had been “guided by the decisions and judgments the King has made”.

“I was still a human being with feelings and emotion and sadness,” Virginia Giuffre told the BBC, during a segment on her alleged meetings with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

“To know that this man had daughters, that he was still capable of abusing me. It’s … it just doesn’t make sense.”

The former prince has denied all wrongdoing.

Virginia Giuffre told the BBC in an interview aired on tonight’s Panorama episode that Ghislaine Maxwell could be more abusive than Jeffrey Epstein.

“Ghislaine was more physically abusive in some aspects than Jeffrey Epstein even was,” she told the BBC in 2019.

“She almost took pleasure in the fact, knowing that you were highly uncomfortable and that you were feeling sick to your stomach and that you were going through pain.”

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021 and jailed for 20 years.

In a 2019 interview featured on BBC Panorama, Virginia Giuffre told the story of how she came to meet Andrew.

She said: “Ghislaine tells me that I have to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey, and that made me sick.

“I just didn’t expect it from royalty. I didn’t expect from someone who people look up to and admire in the royal family.”

Previously unseen footage from the interview will air at 8pm on Tuesday on BBC One.

Donald Trump said he feels “badly” for the royal family amid the fallout over Andrew’s connections to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump, who has also faced pressure over his own ties to Epstein, told reporters on Sunday: “It’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the (royal) family.”

In 2019, when asked about sexual abuse allegations against Andrew, the president denied knowing him despite them having met on several occasions, including Trump’s state visit to the UK that year.

Mr Trump said: “I don’t know Prince Andrew, but it’s a tough story, it’s a very tough story.”

A photo from February 2000 shows Trump, his wife, Melania, and Andrew pictured together at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump’s comments on Sunday come as members of a US congressional committee ramp up their calls for Andrew to answer questions over his friendship with Epstein.

Queen Camilla is said to have played a part in King Charles’s decision to strip Andrew of his titles, expressing fears that his ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein could impact her work with sex abuse victims.

Camilla was said to be appalled by Andrew’s relationship with Epstein and felt the continuous scandal was affecting her ability to carry out public duties, according to The Telegraph.

Beatrice likes to talk about AI in Saudi Arabia and Eugenie deals in art – both have rich husbands with good prospects, so why do they both reside in grace-and-favour Crown Estate properties?

It might not be long before more questions are asked about the sisters who get to retain their HRH titles without being working royals, writes Tessa Dunlop.