Palace says new claims against Prince Andrew are of ‘grave concern’ | Royal | News
A Buckingham Palace source said the latest allegations against Prince Andrew regarding the late Virginia Giuffre raise “very serious and grave concerns” and must be “appropriately examined”. The latest bombshell to hit the former Duke of York, who has renounced his royal titles and honors in the wake of the latest furor, was about him allegedly trying to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up ground for a smear campaign against Ms Giuffre, who was harassing him.
Police said they were investigating the allegations after the Mail on Sunday newspaper claimed Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate. It came as Andrew’s memoirs were published after Ms. Giuffre’s death, in which she wrote that her team tried to recruit “internet trolls to harass her.”
In her harrowing book, Nobody’s Daughter, which will be published on Tuesday, October 21, she described allegations of orgies with Andrew and pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and “eight other young girls”.
She also claimed she first met the prince when she was 17 and told him she was dressed like her idols Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera; In the famous photo, she wore Andrew’s grinning outfit with his arm around her waist.
The king’s brother gave up the title of Duke of York on Friday amid a focus on his links to Epstein and Ms Giuffre’s allegations that she was forced to have sex with the prince three times after being kidnapped by Epstein, which Andrew has vehemently denied.
A Palace source said action was needed because of “what is at the root of this, the wider allegations and the issues that are highlighted”.
They added that the “new allegations made” were “very serious and of grave concern” and “must be appropriately investigated”.
Pressure is mounting on the Royal Family to go further by backing a move to formally strip Andrew of his dukedom through parliamentary legislation.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the issue of the law was “primarily a matter for the palace” and that ministers “support the King’s decision” regarding Andrew’s titles.
York Central MP Rachael Maskell called on Parliament to “take action” on stripping Andrew of his titles, while Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, said there was “no justification” for the UK Government not to bring forward an Act to do so, saying the British public was “angry and confused”.
