SHAMED Prince Andrew became embroiled in sex allegations after his long-standing friendship with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke of York, 63, has always denied any allegations that he had sexual contact with his accuser Virginia Giuffre or that he had any knowledge of wrongdoing committed by his former associate Epstein.
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What are the allegations against Prince Andrew?
Virginia Roberts — who now uses her married name Giuffre — launched a legal battle against Andrew on August 10, 2021, accusing him of sexually abusing her at Epstein’s mansion.
She said it was “past the time for him to be held to account” for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
But the prince strenuously denied her claim he had sex with her.
Lawyers for Ms Giuffre filed the civil suit seeking various damages at a federal court in New York, where the court documents claim she was “lent out for sexual purposes” by convicted sex offender Epstein including while she was still a minor under US law.
The lawsuit specified that Ms Giuffre was “forced to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will” and lists offences including “rape in the first degree.”
Andrew was named as the only defendant in the 15-page suit, brought under New York state’s Child Victims Act, though Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell were mentioned frequently throughout.
Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit stated: “In this country no person, whether president or prince, is above the law, and no person, no matter how powerless or vulnerable, can be deprived of the law’s protection.
“Twenty years ago Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her.
“It is long past the time for him to be held to account.”
It was alleged in the documents that Ms Giuffre was sexually abused while aged under 18 by the Queen’s second son at Maxwell’s home in London, at Epstein’s New York mansion, and at other locations including Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.
It was also alleged the duke engaged in the sexual acts without Ms Giuffre’s consent, while aware of her age and while “knowing that she was a sex-trafficking victim”.
The documents claimed the alleged assaults “have caused, and continue to cause her, significant emotional and psychological distress and harm”.
Will Prince Andrew go to prison?
Prince Andrew’s case was civil and there was no criminal proceedings which meant that a jail sentence was not on the table.
On February 15, 2022, he reached a settlement in the civil sex claim filed by Virginia Giuffre in the US.
It was disclosed in a document submitted to court that the prince had agreed to make a “substantial donation” to a charity, and has accepted that Ms Giuffre “suffered as an established victim of abuse”.
The document added that the prince also regretted his association with Epstein.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Andrew, who had pledged to fight to clear his name in court.
What has Prince Andrew said about the accusations?
The prince strenuously denied all allegations brought against him.
Buckingham Palace also denied the accusations in 2015 saying “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors” by the duke was “categorically untrue”.
It has consistently had that stance, reinforcing it in a 2019 statement by saying: “Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.
“It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
Andrew added: “At no stage during the limited time I spent with [Epstein] did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”
All the allegations about the shamed prince were struck from the court record in 2015.
They were described by the judge as being “immaterial and impertinent”.
What happened in the Newsnight interview?
In Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in November 2019, he denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre on three separate occasions.
He said: “I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
The duke also claimed he had no memory of a well-known photograph of him with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist at Maxwell’s house, and has questioned whether it was his own hand in the image.
He did say that he regrets visiting the sex offender in New York in December 2010 and said he went to end his friendship – when the infamous photo was snapped.
But added that he only went on the visit to tell Epstein that the pair could no longer stay in contact and that he only stayed at his Manhattan home because it was “a convenient place to stay”.
In July, 2023, released court documents suggested Andrew had actually met with Epstein months earlier while he was on house arrest in his Florida mansion.
The Times revealed Epstein sent an email on June, 2010, which read: “Andrew just sat next to me at dinner.”
During the 2019 interview, Andrew also claimed he was at a Pizza Express in Woking on the night Giuffre alleges she had sex with him aged 17 and that he can’t sweat after she alleged he “sweated profusely”.
The Duke of York added he would testify under oath “if push came to shove” and described Epstein’s behaviour as “unbecoming”.
The fallout from the interview saw the royal criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards Epstein’s victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with the disgraced financier.
Andrew quit his royal duties and publicly promised to co-operate with US authorities investigating Epstein’s crimes, though has since faced a war of words between his camp and American authorities over his availability to answer questions.
Andrew and Epstein: Timeline of Events
1999
This is the year the prince first met Epstein, allegedly the pair were linked up via his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell.
Andrew welcomes Epstein to Balmoral.
2000
Andrew, Maxwell and Epstein are seen on holiday at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Epstein and Maxwell attend a party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew’s 40th birthday, Princess Anne’s 50th, the Queen Mother’s 100th and Princess Margaret’s 70th.
2001
This is the year Virginia Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew “three times, including one orgy”, with the first encounter reportedly taking place in Ms Maxwell’s London townhouse.
Ms Roberts claims to have later had sex with the duke on two more occasions, at Epstein’s New York home and at an “orgy” on his private island of Little St James in the Caribbean.
2008
Epstein admits prostituting minors and is sentenced to 18 months in prison.
2010
Epstein is released from jail. Andrew is photographed with the sex offender in Central Park.
Footage emerges years later, reportedly shot on December 6, 2010, showing him inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, where he is seen looking out from a large door of the property waving a woman goodbye after Epstein leaves to get into a car.
2011
The duke resigns his role as UK trade envoy after the fallout from the Central Park photos.
2015
Buckingham Palace denies Andrew has committed any impropriety after he is named in US court documents related to Epstein. A woman, later named in reports as Ms Roberts, alleges in papers filed in Florida that she was forced to have sex with the duke when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the US state.
In April the claims against Andrew are struck from US civil court records following a federal judge’s ruling.
2019
Newly released legal documents show that Johanna Sjoberg, another alleged Epstein victim, claimed Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.
Buckingham Palace said the allegations are “categorically untrue”.
Epstein is found dead in his jail cell on August 10, after being charged with sex trafficking.
Later that month a pilot on Epstein’s private jet claims Andrew was a passenger on past flights with the financier and Ms Roberts.
Following Epstein’s death, a statement from the palace says that Andrew is ”appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes“.
Breaking his silence on the issue for the first time since 2015, Andrew then releases a statement on August 24 saying: ”At no stage during the limited time I spent with him (Epstein) did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.“
In November, during a BBC Newsnight interview the duke said he had ”no recollection“ of ever meeting Ms Roberts and added he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with daughter Beatrice on the day in question.
He added that he “did not regret“ his friendship with the paedophile but admitted he should not have gone to see him in New York in 2010 to break off their friendship.
2020
Andrew’s name is missing from heavily redacted court documents outlining Ghislaine Maxwell’s sordid sex life, a bombshell deposition revealed today.
The explosive docs, released after the socialite lost a legal battle to keep them under wraps, contain details of the Duke’s infamous London trip where it is alleged he had sex with a victim of Jeffrey Epstein.
2021
Jeffrey Epstein-accuser Virginia Giuffre started legal action against the Duke of York and said it was “past the time for him to be held to account” for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
Lawyers for Ms Giuffre filed the civil suit seeking various damages at a federal court in New York, where the court documents claim she was “lent out for sexual purposes” by convicted sex offender Epstein including while she was still a minor under US law.
The lawsuit specified that Ms Giuffre was “forced to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will” and lists offences including “rape in the first degree”.
The full list of allegations are:
- Battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
- Sexual assault three times when she was aged 17 – in London, New York and on Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
- Sexual misconduct
- Rape in the third degree
- Rape in the first degree
- Forcible touching
- Sexual abuse in the third degree
- Sexual abuse in the first degree
2022
It’s understood the prince is set to pay £10million from the sale of his Swiss chalet in an out-of-court settlement with accuser.
The Duke of York, 61, is understood to be prepared to do “whatever is necessary” to stop his sex abuse case overshadowing the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Ms Giuffre’s lawyer told The Sun a “settlement is always a possibility”, as legal experts said it was his “least worst option”.
On February 15, 2022, Prince Andrew settled his sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre.
2023
Andrew was accused of lying in his Newsnight interview where he claimed to have last seen Epstein in 2010.
Documents were said to have showed he did in fact see the paedo a second time that year – and apparently sat next to him at dinner.