The Metropolitan Police will not launch a criminal investigation into reports that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked his taxpayer-funded bodyguard to gather information about Virginia Giuffre.
The force said in a statement that it had not uncovered any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct.
It also said it would not be reopening its investigation into the former Duke of York over historic allegations of sexual exploitation.
Andrew with Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell
US DISTRICT COURT – SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK (SDNY)/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
• Andrew stripped of prince title and will leave Royal Lodge
The family of Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, aged 41, said in a statement that “justice has not been served”.
The Met did not give any indication that the announcement was imminent when emails were exchanged on Friday, the family claimed.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Metropolitan Police have dropped their investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor without explanation and without speaking with us, Virginia’s family”, the statement said.
Giuffre with a photo of herself as a teenager
EMILY MICHOT/MIAMI HERALD/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE VIA GETTY IMAGES
“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.”
The inquiry into the allegations began in October after a leaked email prompted claims that the former prince 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.
The family said last month that Giuffre did not have a criminal record.
• Ghislaine Maxwell’s PR friend ‘funded book discrediting Virginia Giuffre’
Ella Marriott, the Met’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 [Met] 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.”
Following the October revelation, the force was said to be seeking emails, phone records and the notepads of officers who worked with the former duke to establish if a case should be taken forward. If officers had acted on the information then their actions could have amounted to misconduct.
Giuffre filed a legal case against Mountbatten-Windsor in New York in 2021. He chose to settle the case out of court in 2022, though he denied the claims. The payout figure has never been revealed but it was reported that he paid Giuffre about $12 million.
• Virginia Giuffre’s estate is ‘worth $311,000’. Where are Andrew’s millions?
The Perkins email was sent shortly before the now-infamous picture of Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Giuffre was first published by a UK newspaper. During his BBC Newsnight interview, the former prince 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 Mountbatten-Windsor, President Trump, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Richard Branson.
The images were shared with the House oversight committee by the Epstein estate. The release comes as the deadline looms on Thursday for the publication of the so-called “Epstein files”, set by the US Department of Justice.
Democratic members of the House oversight committee wrote to the former duke in November requesting that he sit for a deposition, but he did not respond by the November 20 deadline.
On Saturday, Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed riding a horse near Windsor Castle in Berkshire. The previous day 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 Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi.
The former prince arrived at the christening, held at St James’s Palace, in a Range Rover by a side entrance. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, was also seen arriving 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 Mountbatten-Windsor will relocate to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.