The latest developments in Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuit against alleged Jeffrey Epstein conspirator Prince Andrew in federal court in Manhattan. Giuffre claims Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her and she was raped by Prince Andrew.
Though the federal sex-trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein ended with his death, several alleged co-conspirators are now wrapped up in litigation stemming from their involvement with the late sex offender. Among the most prominent is Prince Andrew, the British royal who was sued for damages in August 2021 by alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre for allegedly raping and sexually abusing her when she was 17. “I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” Giuffre said in a statement. “The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions.” The prince certainly qualifies as part of that cohort: As Queen Elizabeth’s third child, he is ninth in line to the British crown. With a trial in federal court in Manhattan likely to begin sometime in the fall of 2022, below is everything we know about the allegations, the civil lawsuit, and how it could impact the Duke of York, who stepped down from public life amid the fallout from the scandal. The lawsuit filed in August in Manhattan federal court by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent alleged victims, claims that after she was coerced into his sex-trafficking operation, he forced her on several occasions to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 and he was around 40. Repeating prior claims, the suit alleges that the prince committed “sexual assault and battery upon Plaintiff” at Epstein’s New York City mansion when she and “another victim” were forced to “sit on Prince Andrew’s lap as Prince Andrew toucher her.” During this visit, the lawsuit claims, the royal also forced Giuffre to “engage in sex acts against her will.” It also alleges that Prince Andrew abused Giuffre on Epstein’s private jet and that he raped her at the home of alleged Epstein madame Ghislaine Maxwell in London. (Maxwell was convicted on December 29 of sex trafficking and four other counts, and is potentially facing life in prison.) The lawsuit also includes a picture of Prince Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist in which Maxwell appears in the background. The royal has previously claimed the photo was doctored, and he has never faced criminal charges. “During each of the aforementioned incidents, Plaintiff was compelled by express or implied threats by Epstein, Maxwell, and/or Prince Andrew to engage in sexual acts with Prince Andrew, and feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew due to their powerful connections, wealth, and authority,” the lawsuit states.
