Virginia Giuffre’s brother says the news that Prince Andrew will give up his remaining titles “vindicates” his sister.
The Prince announced on Friday that he would stop using his remaining honours and titles, including the Duke of York, amid “continued accusations”.
The announcement came amid renewed controversy surrounding his role in the Epstein scandal and fresh scrutiny over alleged contact with a suspected Chinese spy.
In his latest statement, Prince Andrew said he “vigorously” denied the accusations against him.
The Prince’s statement came four days before the publication of Giuffre’s memoir. The former duke reportedly paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
Speaking to ITV News, Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, said the decision marked a powerful moment of vindication for his sister.
“There’s been a lot of mixed emotions for us over the last day as this has developed,” he said.
“It’s a happy moment because she did fight for this against a lot of rich and powerful people, including Prince Andrew. I remember her saying, ‘Only one of us is telling the truth – and that person is me.’ I think this is a big vindicating moment for her, to show she’s a truth teller.”
Roberts also reflected on the pain of his sister not being here to see this day. “It’s sad she’s not here to see it, but it’s our responsibility to continue her legacy,” he added.
Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, was one of the many victims of the sexual abuse operation run by the late Jeffrey Epstein and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now in a US jail.
She alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, Giuffre said that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.
Sky’s wife, Amanda Roberts, described her sister-in-law as “relentless” and told ITV News “the truth has a way of surfacing.”
“We are tired of this cover-up – not only Prince Andrew, but many accomplices are going to start feeling the fire beneath them,” she said.
“Things are going to start to come to the surface that they may not want to, and it needs to happen.”
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The former duke used the statement about relinquishing his title to insist claims against him were untrue, saying: “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.
“In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.”
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further.
“I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.”
Andrew faced renewed backlash after appearing in the latest documents tied to Epstein’s estate, published by the US House Oversight Committee on Friday.
Among the documents are flight logs listing “Prince Andrew” as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet in 2000 and 2006.
Separately, a newly surfaced email from 2011 shows Andrew writing to Epstein, months after he publicly claimed to have cut ties with the pedophile financier in December 2010.
In the email, the former duke wrote, “we are in this together.”
Although Andrew is relinquishing his dukedom, he technically retains it and it can only be removed by an Act of Parliament.
The titles and honours he will no longer use include his wedding day titles – The Duke of York, the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
The prince stepped down from public life in 2019 following a Newsnight interview where he said he “did not regret” his friendship with Epstein.
He was later stripped of his military patronages by the late Queen, and stopped using his HRH title.
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