Prince Andrew should go to prison, says Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s father

Duke of York no longer living in world when ‘royals can just do whatever they want’

The father of a woman who claims Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her as a 17-year-old has said the royal should go to prison.

Sky Roberts said the Duke of York must be held accountable for his alleged crimes against Virginia Roberts Guiffre, whose lawyers claimed to have successfully served legal papers against him in her civil lawsuit.

“I would like to see him go to prison for at least a little while,” Mr Roberts told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday.

“He needs to know what it’s like to be held accountable for his actions. This is not the times of William Wallace when royals can just do whatever they want.”

Ms Roberts Giuffre has long accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her, when she was 17, at the home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in London and at properties owned by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Queen’s second son has always strongly denied the allegations, but after a disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 following the death by suicide of Mr Epstein he has stepped back from all public duties.

Ms Roberts Giuffre has launched her lawsuit against the prince in a US court, although the Duke of York’s lawyers have insisted they will not attend a pre-trial hearing on Monday and dispute Prince Andrew was properly served with legal papers on the case.

“I’m very proud of my daughter to step up and put this civil suit against him,” said Mr Roberts.

“He knows what he’s done wrong and it’s like I’ve been reading this past week, even trying to serve him papers, he was instructing his guards to tell them not to accept his court papers. An innocent man doesn’t do that, only a guilty man does that.

“I’ve read a lot of things like Prince Andrew saying he’s never met Virginia but everyone around the globe has seen the picture of Prince Andrew with his arm around my daughter and Miss Maxwell right behind him,” he added.

He also said he hugely regretted first taking his daughter to meet Mr Epstein, who is known to have trafficked women around the world in order to sexually abuse them.

“I had no idea what was going on. As a father, if I knew anything that was going on, I would have stopped it. It’s huge regret to me. I loved my daughter when she was born, I love her now and I’ve loved her all the times in between.”