The Metropolitan Police has said it will not launch a new criminal investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, prompting Virginia Giuffre’s family to claim “justice has not been served”.
The force was examining reports the former prince had asked his taxpayer-funded bodyguard to gather information about Giuffre.
But in a statement on Saturday the Met said it had not uncovered any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct concerning the allegations.
It also said it would not reopen its investigation of Andrew concerning alleged historical sexual exploitation.
Andrew, 65, was stripped of his royal titles by the King in October. He has now lost his honorary rank of vice-admiral in the Royal Navy, his last remaining title.
The family of Giuffre, who killed herself in April aged 41, said they were “deeply disappointed” and accused the force of taking the decision “without explanation and without speaking with us”.
A family statement said: “We emailed with a detective from the Metropolitan Police [on Friday], who gave us no indication that this announcement was imminent. Indeed, he asked us if we had any evidence we would like to present; we had not yet replied.
“With the Epstein files about to be released by Congress since the passage of the Epstein Transparency Act, we are surprised that the Metropolitan Police didn’t wait to see what further evidence might appear.
“While we have hailed the UK’s overall handling of the case of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor previously, today we feel justice has not been served. We continue to challenge the system that protects abusers, especially as more evidence comes to light that can hold people accountable. Our sister Virginia — and all survivors — are owed this much.”
Andrew with Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell
US DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Met’s inquiry into the allegations began in October after a leaked email prompted claims that the former prince had sought information to smear his accuser ten years after she was allegedly made to have sex with him.
In the email from 2011, Mountbatten-Windsor told Ed Perkins, the late Queen’s deputy press secretary: “It would also seem she has a criminal record in the [United] States … I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with [redacted], the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].”
It is not known how taxpayer-funded officers from the Met’s SO14 Royalty Protection Group reacted and whether any information was obtained.
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Ella Marriott, the Metropolitan Police’s central specialist crime commander, said in a statement on Saturday: “Following recent reporting suggesting that Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked his Met Police close protection officer to carry out checks on Ms Giuffre in 2011, the MPS has carried out a further assessment. This assessment has not revealed any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct.
“The Met remains committed to thoroughly assessing any new information that could assist in this matter. To date, we have not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation. In the absence of any further information, we will be taking no further action.”
It is understood that the bodyguard involved has been spoken to by the Met, but the retired officer said he could not recall what happened over a decade ago.
A separate trawl of official records at the time is likely to have been hampered by the fact that many files are destroyed after a standard six-year threshold.
The head of the Met’s Royalty Protection Group in 2011, Peter Loughborough, is now lord steward of the royal household and personal secretary to the King and Queen.
Following the October revelation, the force was said to be seeking emails, phone records and the notepads of officers who worked with Andrew, to establish if a case should be taken forward. If officers had acted on the information then their actions could have amounted to misconduct.
Guiffre’s family said last month that she did not have a criminal record.
• Ghislaine Maxwell’s PR friend ‘funded book discrediting Virginia Giuffre’
She filed a legal case against Andrew in New York in 2021. He chose to settle the case out of court in 2022, though he denied her claims. The size of the payout has never been officially confirmed but it was reported that he paid Giuffre about $12 million.
Giuffre with a photo of herself as a teenager
EMILY MICHOT/MIAMI HERALD/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Perkins email was sent shortly before the now-infamous picture of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre was first published by a UK newspaper. During his BBC Newsnight interview, Andrew said he had “no recollection” of meeting her and suggested the image could be fake.
Two new sets of photographs were released by the US Congress this week, showing the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein alongside powerful figures including Andrew, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson.
The images were shared by the Epstein estate. The US Department of Justice has set a deadline of Thursday for the publication of the so-called “Epstein files”.
Democrats in Congress wrote to Andrew in November, requesting that he sit for a deposition, but he did not respond by the November 20 deadline.
Andrew stepped down from royal duties in 2019 after the Newsnight interview, but the recent publication of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, has brought fresh scrutiny, as has the release of documents from the Epstein estate.
Leaked emails suggested Andrew stayed in contact with Epstein half a decade later than he previously indicated, while in others the paedophile financier said he believed the Giuffre photograph was real.
In October, Andrew was formally stripped of both his HRH style and his princely title. His title as Duke of York is understood to be “extant but inactive”, meaning he is unable to use the distinction but his daughters will continue to be known as princesses.
A spokesman for the MoD said: “Following formal consideration, Defence Council have agreed the immediate reversion from the rank of Vice-Admiral to the rank of Commander (Retired) Royal Navy, the rank held on retirement from Regular Royal Naval Service by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. This decision aligns with such processes as to remove other styles and titles.”
He remains eighth in line to the throne because the line of succession has not been changed.
On Saturday, Andrew was photographed riding a horse near Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
On Friday he made his first palace outing since being stripped of his titles to attend the christening of his youngest grandchild, Athena, the daughter of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Andrew arrived at the ceremony, held at St James’s Palace, in a Range Rover by a side entrance. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, arrived in a separate car. The pair have been living together at the Royal Lodge in the grounds of Windsor Castle since 2008 but will be moving out next year, when Andrew will relocate to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the Giuffre family statement.