Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous book “Nobody’s Girl,” released on Tuesday, has refocused attention on the Epstein saga on both sides of the Atlantic, with several MPs calling for the Government to formally strip Andrew of his titles following years of damaging allegations.
The memoir’s publication comes just days after Andrew, 65, renounced his title of Duke of York under mounting pressure from King Charles III, following repeated allegations in Giuffre’s book that she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince on three occasions, including when she was 17.
Whilst Trump features minimally in Giuffre’s memoir, pre-publication publicity has reignited controversy over the release of files concerning the disgraced financier and sex offender in the United States.
The ghostwriter of “Nobody’s Girl,” Amy Wallace, revealed that Giuffre—who died by suicide in April aged 41 – had been a Trump supporter, having met the former president multiple times whilst working at his Mar-a-Lago club.
“She was a huge Trump fan… There were two reasons for it: One, she’d met him. She worked at Mar-a-Lago. Her dad worked at Mar-a-Lago. She met Trump several times, and he was always very kind to her,” Wallace told the Washington Post.
The memoirs of Virginia Giuffre, who accused disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, was released this week, six months after she took her own life. Credit: AFP
“And secondly, he said he was going to release the Epstein files. He was on her side. That’s how she felt.”
Giuffre was recruited into Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking network in 2000 when she was a 17-year-old minor working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, saying in the book she feared she would “die a sex slave.”
According to the memoir, Giuffre was approached there by Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later imprisoned in 2022 for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls. Giuffre recounts being introduced to Trump by her father, with the property developer asking her “do you babysit at all.”
“Soon I was making money a few nights a week, minding the children of the elite,” she wrote in an excerpt published by Vanity Fair.
Trump appeared to be on good terms with Epstein during this period, praising him as a “terrific guy” in a 2002 New York Magazine profile. Epstein took his own life in 2019 whilst in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The BBC reported that in the book, Giuffre alleges three sexual encounters with Andrew—one of which she claims was an orgy including Epstein, the prince and “eight other young girls.”
“Epstein, Andy, and approximately eight other young girls and I had sex together,” she reportedly writes, adding that all the other girls appeared to be under the age of 18 and did not speak much English.
The publication of a now-infamous photograph taken in London appearing to show Prince Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist set in motion the former military helicopter pilot’s downfall.
Prince Andrew is proving to be a huge embarrassment to the Royal Family. PHOTO: AFP
Andrew, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing and the assault accusations, agreed to pay Giuffre millions of pounds in 2022 to settle her civil sexual assault case.
Lownie, whose book “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York” was published in August, warned that matters could deteriorate further for Andrew.
“I do think that if the Met had properly investigated these sex trafficking allegations, he would have been charged and I hope they will now do so,” he said.
Lownie said there was a “strong case against the prince because of malfeasance in public office” linked to his tenure as a special trade envoy, describing Andrew as being “on the ropes.”
He added that there were grounds for an inquiry by the National Crime Agency, which investigates organised crime and human trafficking amongst other offences.
Charles’s eldest son and heir to the throne, Prince William, was consulted about Andrew’s decision to renounce his title. Lownie suggested that William plans to banish his uncle even further from royal life when he becomes king, possibly even barring him from his coronation.
Andrew stepped back from official royal duties in 2019 and surrendered his HRH title, with his appearances limited to family occasions such as Christmas Day. That door has now been firmly closed to him and his former wife Sarah Ferguson.
Several MPs said Parliament should act to strip the “duke” title from the late Queen Elizabeth II’s second son. Rachael Maskell, MP for York—from which Andrew’s title derives—has proposed legislation that would allow the King or a parliamentary committee to remove it.
Some politicians also want Andrew to lose the title of prince, which he receives automatically as a monarch’s son.
The BBC reported royal sources as saying Buckingham Palace was preparing for “more days of pain ahead.”
Andrew’s scandals have proved a tremendous embarrassment to the Royal Family. The memoir’s publication coincides with a high-profile visit to the Vatican by Charles, who is due to end centuries of tradition and pray with Pope Leo XIV.
Lownie said Andrew “lost his protector” when Elizabeth died in 2022 and that the King should have been “far more ruthless” and acted sooner.
Andrew, once celebrated as a handsome war hero who flew helicopters for the Royal Air Force during the 1982 Falklands conflict, was the Queen’s favourite son.
“People complained about him for years and nothing was done. I think also she just had a complete blind spot about him,” Lownie observed.
“The hope was that once the book was published for the first time since 2011, she could say: ‘I respect your wish to know my memories of Prince Andrew, Ghislaine, Jeffrey, etc, all the other men. I respect that need. I have done the best version of my story,’” Wallace said of Giuffre’s final testimony.
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