The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into allegations that Prince Andrew, Duke of York, tried to obtain damaging information on his sexual assault accuser, Virginia Giuffre, from one of his royal protection officers in 2011.
In a report from The Mail on Sunday, Andrew is alleged to have requested that a bodyguard investigate whether Giuffre had a criminal record in an apparent bid to discredit her. The claims have reignited concern over the disgraced royal’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and heaped pressure on Buckingham Palace to distance itself further from Andrew.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police on Sunday confirmed the force is “actively investigating” the report and looking into whether any misconduct occurred. The probe comes just days after it was announced by Buckingham Palace that Andrew had agreed to relinquish his Duke of York title and other remaining royal privileges after newly released emails disproved his previous assertions of when he severed his ties to Epstein.
A Royal Crisis Deepens
The emergence of 2011 emails—showing Andrew telling Epstein that they were “in this together” and had to “rise above it”—has been the final straw for King Charles III, it is said. The correspondence directly contradicts Andrew’s 2019 BBC interview in which he claimed to have ended his friendship with Epstein in 2010.
That interview, billed as one of the worst in royal history, saw Andrew deny sex with Giuffre—then 17—to offer cringe-worthy justifications for his Epstein friendship. His inability to express sympathy for Epstein’s victims caused national uproar, and he was compelled to step down from all public life and lose dozens of patronages.
The royal family has tried to curtail Andrew’s public life ever since, to shield the monarchy’s reputation. Friday’s announcement that he would relinquish his ducal title is another step in this campaign of damage control.
Giuffre’s Family Reacts
Giuffre’s relatives, who have long sought justice, welcomed the decision but said it fell short. They urged King Charles III to formally strip Andrew of his title as “prince.”
Virginia Giuffre—whose evidence was so crucial in exposing the scope of Epstein’s trafficking operation—tragically killed herself in April at the age of 41. Her posthumous memoir, published on Tuesday, will inevitably revisit her trauma and detail her experiences with Epstein and Andrew.
Bodyguard Allegations Under Scrutiny
The Mail on Sunday reported that Andrew provided his protection officer with Giuffre’s date of birth and Social Security number in an effort to uncover damning personal records as the paper was poised to publish the now-infamous 2011 photo of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist. It is unclear whether the officer followed through with the prince’s request, though Giuffre’s family reports that she had no record with the police.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC in an interview on Sunday that the allegations were “deeply concerning” and any such use of a police officer for personal purposes a serious misuse of protocol. “If true, that is absolutely not the way close protection officers are meant to be used,” he said.
Settlement and Continued Denials
In 2022, Prince Andrew paid millions of dollars in an out-of-court settlement to Giuffre in her U.S. civil lawsuit to prevent a trial that would have further humiliated the monarchy. Although he did not admit wrongdoing, he publicly acknowledged that Giuffre had indeed suffered as a victim of sexual abuse and trafficking.
Andrew has consistently denied the claims despite the settlement. In a statement issued Friday, he reiterated that he “vigorously denies” any sexual wrongdoing.
As more information emerges and public trust in the royal family is yet again put to the test, the Prince Andrew controversy will not go away. The police inquiry, as well as the release of Giuffre’s book, ensures that the ghost of Epstein—and the question of royal accountability—will continue to loom over Buckingham Palace.
