The Duke of York – who vehemently denies all wrong doing – was pictured inside a vehicle at Royal Lodge with Sarah Ferguson. at 2.30pm this afternoon – a day after Ms Giuffre died by suicide
Prince Andrew has been seen in public for the first time since since sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre died yesterday morning. The Duke of York – who vehemently denies all wrong doing – was pictured inside a vehicle at Royal Lodge in Windsor with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, at 2.30pm this afternoon.
Fergie was previously criticised for her association with Epstein, who was known to have visited royal residences. She accepted a loan of £15,000 from the sex offender to help with her debts, which she later called a “gigantic error of judgment”. She later made a public apology for taking the money.
“I personally, on behalf of myself, deeply regret that Jeffrey Epstein became involved in any way with me,” she said. “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite, I cannot say.
“Whenever I can I will repay the money and will have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.… What he did was wrong and for which he was rightly jailed.” Epstein reportedly once tried to sue the Duchess for publicly calling him a paedophile.
Described as “a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse” by her heartbroken relatives, they confirmed she died by suicide at her farm in Neergabby, Western Australia. Virginia, who was trafficked by Epstein as a teen, also claimed she was sexually abused by Prince Andrew, claims the royal has strongly denied.
Police revealed her tragic death was not being viewed as “suspicious” and said emergency services received a report of an unresponsive woman at 9:50pm local time on Friday night. Crews tried to administer lifesaving emergency first aid shortly after arriving at her home.
Cops added: “Police and St John WA attended and provided emergency first-aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene. The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
The “teenage sex slave” of Jeffrey Epstein was awarded a reported £12million ($15.2m) from the royal to settle a bombshell civil sexual abuse case against him while securing further compensation through the Epstein victims’ compensation program.
She is also understood to have banked a hefty defamation pay-out from Ghislaine Maxwell after the disgraced British socialite labelled her “a liar”. Following her death at her farm in Western Australia on Friday, sources have told the Mirror a vicious battle is set to break out between her estranged husband and her family in the States over her millions.
Ms Giuffre said under the guise of a “massage job,” the British socialite and Epstein ensnared her into a life of sexual servitude, loaning her out to have sex with the financier’s wealthy friends. One of those men, Virginia alleged, was the Duke of York.
She said she was flown around the world to have sex with the royal and others, sometimes while she was still underage by US law. In detailed civil court filings lodged in New York in August 2021, she accused the Duke, 65, of sexually abusing her on three occasions in London, New York and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.
Following her tragic death, Virginia’s family said: “It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia. She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors. In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Her brother, Danny Wilson, told NBC News she “pushed so hard to snuff the evil out” of the world. He added: “Her biggest push was, ‘If I don’t do this, nobody’s going to do it. She was in real physical pain — suffered from renal failure. But I think that the mental pain was worse.”
And her publicist, Dini von Mueffling, said in a statement: “Deeply loving, wise and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims. She adored her children and many animals. She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words. It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
In a Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in November 2019, Andrew denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre on three separate occasions, saying: “I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
The duke also said he has no memory of a well-known photograph of him with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist at Maxwell’s house, and has questioned whether it was his own hand in the image.
