Virginia Giuffre has been hailed as an unflinching campaigner for survivors of sexual abuse, who took on the wealthy and the powerful during the course of her life.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” her family said in a statement confirmingher death.
Her relentless pursuit of justice for what she claimed were the crimes committed against her by the billionaire financier and convicted paedophileJeffrey Epsteinsaw her become a public figure in her own right.
The allegations she made againstPrince Andrewset in train a legal battle that culminated in an out-of-court settlement in which the royal admitted no guilt.
Andrew maintains his innocence, but the reputational damage brought on by the case – and the disastrous PR campaign he waged to cast doubt over Giuffre’s story – saw him step back from frontline duties with his image in tatters.
In 2000, when she was 17-years-old, Giuffre met the British socialiteGhislaine Maxwellwhile working as a locker-room assistant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Maxwell then offered her a job as massage therapist to Epstein.
Giuffre alleged that after taking the role she was trafficked to the financier’s friends and clients and “passed around like a platter of fruit”. Among them, she claimed, was Prince Andrew.
It was in March 2011 that Giuffre went on the record about the alleged horrors she faced, and claimed that she had met Andrew on three occasions in 2001.
In the Mail on Sunday,she recounted her first alleged meeting with Andrewduring a six-week trip to Europe and North Africa when she was still 17. Giuffre said she flew to London with Epstein, who then took her to Maxwell’s house.
She said that she, Epstein and Maxwell all stayed in the house overnight, and when Maxwell woke her up in the morning, she told Giuffre: “We’ve got to go shopping. You need a dress as you’re going to dance with a prince tonight.”
She alleged Andrew arrived at Maxwell’s home before they went out for dinner and visited Tramp nightclub where, Giuffre claimed, she danced with Andrew.
Later that evening, Giuffre said they all returned to Maxwell’s home where a now infamous photograph of Giuffre, Andrew and Maxwell was taken.
She recounted two further meetings with Andrew: one in New York, and one on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, by which time she was 18. At this point, claims of sexual contact with Andrew were not made public.
In 2014, Giuffre made a court filing in Florida claiming that she was made to have sex with Andrew. A year later, a judge decided that her allegations about the prince were “immaterial and impertinent” to a defamation claim against Maxwell and ordered them struck out.
In 2019, after Epstein’s arrest and death in jail, Giuffre gave her first television interview to NBC News, where she claimed she was “trafficked to that prince”.
Later that year, after mounting public outcry, Andrew granted the BBC’s Newsnight programme an extraordinary interview that was widely seen as an embarrassment for the duke.
Speaking to Emily Maitlis, Andrew said it was not possible for him to have been at Maxwell’s property in London on the night in question in 2001. Instead, he said he was at home after attending a children’s party at Pizza Express in Woking.
He denied claims during the interview that he slept with Giuffre three times, saying: “I can absolutely, categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
The disastrous reception to the interview prompted Andrew to “step back from public duties for the foreseeable future”.
In 2021, Giuffre sued Andrew in a New York court, accusing him of sexually abusing her at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan and at other locations in 2001 when she was under the age of 18. The duke settled the case for an undisclosed sum in 2022.
A month before he settled the case, Andrew was stripped of his military roles and use of the title His Royal Highness. The eventual settlement did not include an admission of guilt from the duke, and he has continued to deny the allegations against him.
Time has done little to repair Andrew’s public image. Last week, a rare public appearance at the royal family’s Easter Sunday service with King Charles sparked a fresh round of negative headlines.
Giuffre’s death has not only drawn tributes, but also expressions of sorrow over the circumstances. Last month, she announced on social media that she had days to live after being involved in a bus crash. The story was later clarified by Giuffre and those around her.
On Saturday, her family said she taken her own life at her farm in Western Australia.
Charlotte Proudman, a barrister and women’s rights campaigner,said on X: “Virginia Giuffre survived sex trafficking, fought for justice for over a decade, and gave voice to the silenced.
“She donated part of her $12m settlement to other victims. She has now taken her own life. The fight cost her everything. Never forget what this system does to women.”
In the UK and Ireland,Samaritanscan be contacted on freephone 116 123, or emailjo@samaritans.orgorjo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineon 988, chat on988lifeline.org, ortext HOMEto 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support serviceLifelineis 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found atbefrienders.org