Accuser left ‘horrified and ashamed’ after alleged sex with Prince Andrew as she urges UK public: ‘Help me fight this fight’
‘It was a wicked time in my life,’ says Virginia Giuffre. ‘A really scary time in my life. I had just been abused by a member of the royal family’
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre has alleged she was “patted on the back” and told she had “made him very happy” after sleeping with the duke on the command of Jeffrey Epstein’s ally Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ms Giuffre has now urged the British public to support her and “not accept this as being ok”.
She alleges to have been forced to sleep with the prince when she was 17 on a trip to London – which the duke has strongly denied.
Now in an interview with BBC programme Panorama, she has outlined the night in question, claiming it had “made her sick” to be asked by Epstein’s right-hand woman to “do for Andrew as [she] did for Jeffrey” after having been groomed by the billionaire paedophile.
After dancing with the prince at a nightclub in 2001, an event she said was characterised by him “sweating like rain”, she claimed: “There was a bath, and it started there and then it led into the bedroom. It didn’t last very long, the whole entire procedure. It was disgusting.
“He wasn’t mean or anything but he got up and he said thanks and then he walked out and I sat there in bed, just horrified and ashamed and felt dirty.”
The next day, she alleges Ms Maxwell, Epstein’s associate and the duke’s close friend, had told her she had done “a really good job” – patting her on the back and adding “you made him really happy”.
Ms Maxwell has been described as the “madame” and the “nuts and bolts of the sex trafficking operation” by Epstein’s accusers – having become involved in his life after the death of her father, the media baron Robert Maxwell.
Breaking down, Ms Giuffre added: “It was a wicked time in my life. A really scary time in my life. I had just been abused by a member of the royal family.
“I wasn’t chained to a sink, but these powerful people were my chains. And I couldn’t comprehend how in the highest level of government powerful people were allowing this to happen. Not only allowing it to happen but participating in it.”
Appearing in a follow-up interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis, which led the prince to announce he would withdraw from public life, Ms Giuffre appealed for support.
“I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me, to help me fight this fight, to not accept this as being OK,” she said.
“This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked. This is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guy’s royalty.”
Ms Giuffre told how, while working as a 17-year-old locker room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, she was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell to train as a massage therapist.
Attending Mr Epstein’s home for an interview for the role, she found the billionaire naked on a massage table.
As Ms Maxwell gave her massage training, Ms Giuffre told the couple she had experienced a difficult life – and had been a runaway and sexually abused.
“That was the worst thing I could have told them because now they knew how vulnerable I was,” she said. The couple went on to allegedly abuse her shortly afterwards.
Quizzed on accusations of inconsistency in her story, she added: “You are left with a foggy memory sometimes, you really are. I might be wrong on dates absolutely and I might be wrong on places even, sometimes.
“But one thing that I can tell you is you never forget the face of someone who has heaved over you.”
Lawyers for five of Mr Epstein’s abusers have now called on the duke to come forward and speak to investigators looking to uncover details surrounding the crimes of the billionaire.
David Boies said: “One of the things that we have tried is to interview Prince Andrew and to try to get what his explanation is.
“He was a frequent visitor. They ought to submit to an interview. They ought to talk about it.”
Mr Boies is planning to serve subpoenas to force the prince to testify as a witness in all five cases.
The women all say they saw how people were given massages at Epstein’s homes.
Prince Andrew strongly denies Ms Giuffre’s allegations and any claims of impropriety in his relationship with Mr Epstein.
A Buckingham Palace statement said: “Duke of York unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein’s suicide left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims.
“The Duke deeply sympathises with those affected who want some form of closure. It is his hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives. The Duke is willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required.
“The Duke has already stated that he did not see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest and conviction. He deplores the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in, or encourage any such behaviour.
“With regard to the allegations made by Ms Roberts (Giuffre): It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
Ms Maxwell has also denied any claims of wrongdoing.
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