Virginia Roberts Giuffre family celebrates her ‘extraordinary courage’ as Andrew is stripped of title
Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s family claimed victory as Andrew was stripped of his princely title.
“Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family toppled a British prince with her integrity and extraordinary courage,” Giuffre’s family said in a statement. he said.
Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
His brother Sky Roberts praised the king “for setting an example to the rest of the world by saying, ‘I stand with the survivors. I will even hold my brother accountable.'”
She said she was caught up in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring in the early 2000s, when she was a teenager, and was exploited by Andrew and other influential men.
Financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019 in what investigators called a suicide.
King III. Charles’ decision on Thursday to strip his brother Andrew of his princely title and vast home, an exile that has exposed the disgraced royal to increasing political and legal scrutiny over his finances and friendship with Epstein.
As new details emerged about Andrew’s relationship with the convicted sex offender, the king moved to stem growing public disapproval. Charles moved to save the monarchy from this disaster by forcibly removing the title of an English prince for the first time in a century.
Julian Payne, the king and queen’s former communications secretary, said as the scandal about Andrew, 65, grew, the royal family decided “a tipping point had been reached”.
Former Prince Andrew is now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. As of Friday, he was no longer listed in the nobility, where he had previously appeared as the Duke of York, another title.
He will also leave Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where he has lived for more than 20 years, and move to a more remote home at the king’s 20,000-acre (8,100 hectares) Sandringham Estate in eastern England, financed by his brother.
Buckingham Palace said Andrew had been given notice to give up his lease and would move out “as soon as possible”, but this is not expected to happen until after Christmas, when the whole family usually gathers at Sandringham.
Sandringham locals were not happy with their future neighbors.
“Well, it has to go somewhere. Right?” said Vanessa Beech. He said the king “absolutely” made the right decision about Andrew.
Politicians welcomed this step
The British government, which was consulted but not directly involved, welcomed the king’s decision.
“I think the vast majority of people in this country will think this is the right thing to do,” trade minister Chris Bryant told the BBC.
Andrew renounced the title of Duke of York earlier this month amid new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed allegations of sexual abuse in Giuffre’s posthumous memoir. Andrew denies all her allegations.
But the king went further, claiming that since he was born as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II was a child of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He wanted to punish Elizabeth for serious errors of judgment by stripping her of the title of prince he had as a child. Andrew also lost the title of “His Royal Highness” and the former prince now became a commoner.
“These censorships are deemed necessary even though he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the Palace said. “Her Majesty wishes to make it clear that her thoughts and utmost sympathies are with the victims and survivors of all forms of abuse and remain with them.”
It is almost unprecedented for a British prince or princess to be stripped of this title. The last time this happened was during the First World War, when Prince Ernest Augustus, a member of the United Kingdom royal family and also the prince of Hanover, was stripped of his British titles because he sided with Germany. He ceased to be a British prince under the Deprivation of Titles Act 1917, which came into force in 1919 after the war ended.
Monarchy under pressure
Andrew’s was the most dramatic royal exit since 1936, when King Edward VIII abdicated to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. The couple were given the titles Duke and Duchess of Windsor and spent the rest of their lives in exile.
Prince Harry remains a prince and the Duke of Sussex despite giving up his royal duties, feuding with his family and moving to California.
Andrew faced fresh public outrage earlier this month when emails emerged that showed he had been in contact with Epstein for longer than he had previously admitted.
Later, Giuffre’s book “Nobody’s Daughter” was published. Giuffre claimed she had sex with Andrew three times, the first time when she was 17. Giuffre said Andrew acted as if he believed “it was his birthright to have sex with me.”
Andrew has long denied Giuffre’s claims but resigned from royal duties in November 2019 following a disastrous BBC interview in which he attempted to debunk her claims.
In 2022, Andrew paid millions to settle a civil lawsuit that Giuffre filed in New York.
Peter Hunt, the BBC’s former royal correspondent, said the king and senior royals were “afraid to keep up with public opinion” as they “try to restore trust and credibility in an ancient institution”.
