Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17, on Monday filed a lawsuit against the royal in Manhattan federal court.
The alleged assault, she says, took place at the home of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when she was a “child.”
Giuffre, who is seeking unspecified damage in the suit, says the prince abused her at least three times while she was underage. “Each time, Giuffre alleges, she was instructed by either Epstein or his alleged cohort, Ghislaine Maxwell, to engage in sex acts with the Duke of York,” the New York Post reported.
“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” Guiffre said in a statement. “The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one’s life by speaking out and demanding justice.”
“I did not come to this decision lightly,” she added. “As a mother and a wife, my family comes first — and I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates — but I knew if I did not pursue this action, I would be letting them and victims everywhere down.”
The Duke of York has denied the allegation, saying in 2019 that he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Giuffre — despite photographic evidence.
“I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened,” he said then. “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
Prince Andrew palled around with Epstein for years, visiting his Manhattan penthouse, his Florida mansion, and his private island in the Caribbean. At one point, when the two were together in London, the prince was pictured with Guiffre.
In September 2019, Guiffre said in an NBC interview that Prince Andrew was “pouring with perspiration” when they danced at a London club called Tramp in 2001. “He was a hideous dancer and he was sweating profusely all over me. I just remember like, ‘Ugh, I need a shower. This is disgusting.’”
Prince Andrew said that’s impossible, claiming that he had a medical condition at the time that made it so he did not sweat.
“There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time. Yes, I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply … it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said.
The prince served as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War.
In a BBC interview in 2019, Guiffre recounted her allegation.
“The first time in London, I was so young. Ghislaine woke me up in the morning and said, ‘You’re gonna’ meet a prince today.’ I didn’t know at that point that I was going to be trafficked to a prince,” she said.
“We went out to Club Tramp,” she said. “Prince Andrew got me alcohol, it was in the VIP section, I’m pretty sure it was vodka. He was like, ‘let’s dance.’ I was like, ‘OK.’ We leave club Tramp and I hop in the car with Ghislaine and Jeffrey.”
“She says, ‘He’s coming back to the house and I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein.’ I couldn’t believe it,” Giuffre said.