A bombshell email is said to have revealed Prince Andrew asking for his Met Police bodyguard to find out damaging information against sex attack victim Virginia Giuffre
Prince Andrew has been pushed into the centre of controversy once again as reports claim he tried to get the Met Police to launch a smear campaign against sex offence victim, Virginia Giuffre – with the news prompting a strong reaction from senior officials.
Andrew, who has long denied any sex crime allegations against him, is said to have asked his Met bodyguard to investigate Ms Giuffre and handed over her date of birth and and social security number, according to reports. The bodyguard was part of the Met’s elite SO14 Royalty Protection Group.
On top of this, Andrew is understood to have involved one of Queen Elizabeth’s most senior aides, Ed Perkins. He reportedly told the deputy press secretary, that he had asked one of the personal protection officers to find damaging information about Ms Giuffre.
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The Mail on Sunday obtained an email which is said to feature the explosive claims. Andrew is claimed to have emailed Mr Perkins just hours before the publication published the notorious photograph of him and Ms Giuffre, who was a mere 17 years old at the time.
It is claimed Andrew accused the victim of having a criminal record in the US, which her family have since denied. It is not believed that the officer agreed to Andrew’s alleged requests. The MoS reports Andrew wrote in the email: “It would also seem she has a criminal record in the [United] States. I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with XXX, the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].”
On Saturday, the Met Police informed the MoS that they were “actively looking into the claims made” though it is not a formal investigation. Broadcaster Emily Maitlis has said she is “glad” the force are taking this step. She told Victoria Derbyshire on the BBC Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: “I think if there have been people responsible for trying to make her life even more unbearable than it was, then I would like to see justice done.”
She added that the latest revelation that Andrew continued email contact with Jeffrey Epstein suggested he had not finished his friendship with him. She said: “Signing off, let’s play some more soon, does not suggest that he had ever finished that friendship, that he had ever broken off with Epstein.
“And so you’re left really questioning why he said that, whether the conversation ever existed, and how much more there is in that interview that we have to now go back and question and look at again.”
Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary, echoed similar views and told the programme: “These are deeply concerning allegations. I think people want to look at those allegations and what the substance is behind them. But if that is correct, that is absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used.”
Asked if he would support legislation to strip Andrew of his titles, the minister insisted the Government would be guided by the Royals.He added: “I think the royal family have said that they didn’t want to take up parliamentary time with this. There are lots of other things that Parliament is discussing.”
Ms Giuffre’s relatives said the explosive email ‘expose(d) the lengths to which those implicated try to discredit and defame survivors. The truth will surface and there will be no shadows in which they can hide’.