Victim’s memoir to further embarrass royal family
Prince Andrew and the royal family could face further embarrassment when Virginia Giuffre’s memoirs are published in the week the King will pray with the Pope.
The Metropolitan Police said they would investigate allegations in the Mail on Sunday that Andrew passed Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.
It is also said that the Queen emailed her then-deputy press secretary and made her request to the bodyguard, suggesting Giuffre had a criminal record.
A Met spokesman said: “We are aware of media reports and are actively investigating the allegations made.” he said.
The allegations are the latest to emerge against the prince, who renounced the dukedom and other honors following the publication on Friday of extracts from Giuffre’s posthumous autobiography.
The book will be published on Tuesday, the day before Charles begins his official visit to the Holy See. During this visit, he will become the first British monarch to pray with the Pope in public service since the Reformation.
Supreme Governor of the Church of England Charles and Pope Leo will pray together during the ecumenical ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, a symbolic moment of ongoing dialogue between the two churches.
The two-day visit to the Vatican, the seat of government for the Catholic Church in the Vatican, is understood to be of immense personal importance to the King and will mark the papal jubilee held every 25 years.
A report in the Sunday Times suggested the Prince of Wales was “unhappy” with the decision regarding Andrew’s titles.
The newspaper suggested that William planned to take a “more ruthless” approach towards his disgraced uncle and would ban him from future coronations.
But it is understood the King and William are of the same mind on how to deal with the former duke.
Andrew, who is still a prince and lives on the Royal Lodge estate, issued a statement on Friday saying he was giving up the title and honor of Duke of York to avoid drawing attention away from the affairs of the monarch and the royal family.
Giuffre’s sister, Sky Roberts, called on the King to go further and strip Andrew of his right to be a prince.
Charles is said to have consulted with William, Andrew and the royal family after it was revealed that Andrew sent an email saying “we are in this together” three months after Andrew claimed to have cut off all contact with Jeffrey Epstein in 2011.
In 2022, the then-Duke of York paid his accuser Giuffre millions to settle a civil sexual assault lawsuit, even though she claimed to have never met Giuffre.
The prince’s 2019 News Night interview, which he hoped would clear his name, backfired when he said he “doesn’t regret” his friendship with Epstein, the convicted pedophile who trafficked Giuffre.
He was heavily criticized for his lack of sympathy for the sex offender’s victims.
Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with the prince three times, including when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein, which Andrew vehemently denies.
