King Charles III must do more to freeze out Prince Andrew, a biographer has told Newsweek, as Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir is set to give a detailed description of her allegation that she was trafficked aged 17 to have sex with Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein.
Nobody’s Girl was serialized by The Guardian Wednesday and will be published by Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on Tuesday, October 21.
It builds on a previously unpublished book, The Billionaires Playboy Club, she wrote some years ago and was included in court filings during past lawsuits against Epstein and his assistant Ghislaine Maxwell.
For the first time though, the public will be able to read a full detailed account of her harrowing life, including her allegations that she was trafficked to London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands to have sex with Andrew when she was 17.
The Epstein scandal has created mounting pressure on the British monarchy to cut ties with Andrew, who has always denied the allegations against him.
Virginia Giuffre’s Book Ramps up Pressure on King Charles
Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled, a new book about Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, told Newsweek: “This is more pressure on Andrew, it’s more evidence and so I think most people don’t know about The Billionaires Playboy Club so they feel this is new.
“It’s more pressure and clearly the press are moving in on Andrew in a big way. It seems to me the palace need to take it seriously. They’re going through the motions, but I don’t see any concrete action being taken.”
Just last week, a previously private email from Andrew to Epstein sent in February 2011, a day after Giuffre’s first press interview with The Mail on Sunday was published, read: “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it. Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!” It was sent three years after Epstein had pleaded guilty and been jailed for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The message was signed “A, HRH The Duke of York, KG,” with the final initials standing for Knight of the Garter, an order of chivalry to which he is a member.
With each new revelation, pressure on Charles mounts to signal the royal family take sex trafficking allegations seriously and Lownie said there is more that can be done.
What King Charles Could Do About Prince Andrew
Lownie said. “Signing himself Knight of the Garter is incredibly pompous, but also, what is he doing being a Knight of the Garter? That’s an easy enough thing to remove.”
Andrew has always maintained his innocence, but turned down the opportunity to prove it in court when he settled a lawsuit brought by Giuffre at civil court in New York in 2022. He paid an undisclosed sum, while denying liability.
Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth II had to contribute money because Andrew did not have enough by himself, The Daily Telegraph reported at the time.
Lownie said Andrew should not have been given a police escort to the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September, at which he was photographed laughing with and trying to talk to Prince William, who appeared to blank him.
The author also argued the royals should strip Andrew and Ferguson of their Duke and Duchess of York titles. Ferguson, known as Fergie in Britain, was ditched by seven charities after it recently emerged she had sent Epstein a fawning email in 2011. The message came after Andrew claimed he had already cut off contact with Epstein. At the time, the disgraced financier had helped her pay off £15,000 of debt.
“Take away Duke of York and he’s still a prince, but we don’t have the Duchess of York then, and she needs to be kind of sanctioned,” Lownie said.
“Though these may not make a huge amount of difference, at least they’re seeming to do something which is what the public wants. I think they now need to look at accountability and transparency over their finances, over the royal records.”
Prince Andrew’s Funding
And there is no sign Andrew is going to stop being a problem for the king any time soon. In fact, mystery surrounds how Andrew is paying to continue living at his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, without a known income.
Fergie lost her career because she owed Epstein money. Andrew went on to form a relationship with Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who was kicked out of Britain for being a spy, although he denies the allegation.
In short, there is little to reassure the public, or perhaps the monarchy, that Andrew’s source of funding will not in some way produce further embarrassment down the line.
“We now need to know where he’s getting his money,” Lownie said. “He can clearly afford to stay in Royal Lodge. Is this money coming from people in the Middle East or [Andrew’s business venture] Pitch at Palace type stuff and China?”
Virginia Giuffre’s Allegations
In a serialization of the book, printed in The Guardian, Giuffre detailed three alleged encounters with Andrew, including the first time she said they had sex, at Maxwell’s house in London, in March 2001.
“In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about how he behaved,” she wrote. “He was friendly enough, but still entitled—as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright. I drew him a hot bath. We disrobed and got in the tub, but didn’t stay there long because the prince was eager to get to the bed.”
She also described posing with him for a now famous photograph at Maxwell’s house, in which he had her arm around her waist.
Andrew told the BBC in a November 2019 interview: “I’m not in a position to know what she’s trying to achieve, but I can tell you categorically I don’t remember meeting her at all.
“I do not remember a photograph being taken and I’ve said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever.”
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