The TLDR: Virginia Roberts Giuffre has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in New York accusing the prince of sexually abusing her—when she was a minor. The civil case may not put Andrew in jail but he is now the first member of the royal family to face such a legal action—which promises both great public humiliation and, perhaps, monetary damages. And that’s unprecedented.

Researched by: Sara Varghese and Vagda Galhotra 

Some quick background

This case is actually the fallout of the death of multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein—who is accused of trafficking Giuffre to Andrew. Here is what you need to know about Epstein:

• He was a high-profile financier best known for his lavish lifestyle and very famous friends—which included Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey and Israeli PM Ehud Barak. Epstein once said: “I invest in people — be it politics or science. It’s what I do.”  FYI: No one knows exactly how he made his money.
• In 2007, he was indicted for “sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, bringing them to his home for massages during which he masturbated or had intercourse with them.”
• Thanks to a dodgy deal with the prosecution, he got off with 13 months in a county jail. While he was now a registered sex offender, it did little to cramp Epstein’s lifestyle or crimes. In 2019, he was again arrested—this time for sex trafficking minors who he recruited for his powerful friends.
• If convicted, he would have faced 45 years in prison—but he died of suicide in his jail cell instead. An unexpected event that spawned a million conspiracy theories.

Epstein’s modus operandi: He and his ex-girlfriend and alleged partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, groomed young girls—who they would sexually abuse. Maxwell lured vulnerable children into the network with promises of trips to the Caribbean, financial support and free flights to luxurious destinations. Then they bullied the girls into recruiting other kids:

“According to Joseph Recarey, the lead Palm Beach detective on the case, Epstein was essentially operating a ‘sexual pyramid scheme’... ‘He told me he wanted them as young as I could find them,’ Courtney Wild, who says she recruited 70 or 80 girls for Epstein, told Brown. ‘He wanted as many girls as I could get him. It was never enough.’”

The girls were then ‘passed around’ to Epstein’s famous friends—who included dear old Prince Andrew. FYI: Maxwell is currently in jail in the United States awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

What’s the allegation about Andrew?

First, meet Virginia Giuffre: The 38-year old was allegedly trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She claims that Maxwell approached her when she was working at the Trump-owned Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. She was then brought to Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion. The abuse began when she was 16-years-old in 1999, and continued for several years—during which she says she was passed around to other famous men. In her deposition, she says she was ordered to give them massages: “And when they say massage, they mean erotic, OK?... That's their code word.”

Enter Prince Andrew: Giuffre says she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three separate occasions—and in three separate locations: Jeffrey Epstein’s home in Manhattan, his mansion in the US Virgin Islands, and in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London residence. This occurred between 2000 and 2002 — when she was still under 18. Here’s what the lawsuit claims:

“The lawsuit alleges Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell mandated Ms. Giuffre to have sex with Prince Andrew and that she ‘feared death [or] physical injury’ if she chose not to comply due to the ‘powerful connections, wealth and authority’ the three of them held. It also says Ms. Giuffre didn’t consent to the sexual acts and alleges Prince Andrew knew her age from Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell and knew ‘she was a sex-trafficking victim being forced to engage in sexual acts with him.’”

Giuffre also said “the prince had committed acts of sexual assault and battery that caused her severe and lasting damage.” And the lawsuit declares:

“Twenty years ago Prince Andrew's wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her. It is long past the time for him to be held to account."

A key piece of evidence: This photo of Andrew with Giuffre—with Maxwell in the background, allegedly taken at Maxwell’s London residence. 

What does Andrew say?

He has not commented on the lawsuit. This may be smart since the 2019 BBC interview he gave to defend himself—when the allegations first became public—was a complete disaster. In it, Andrew insisted:

• He does not recall ever meeting Giuffre: “It didn't happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened...I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
• No, he can’t explain the photo—which he suggests may have been manipulated: “Investigations that we've done” can’t prove if the photograph was faked “because it is a photograph of a photograph of a photograph.” Also: “we can't be certain as to whether or not that's my hand.” And finally: “I'm at a loss to explain this particular photograph.”
• On one of the occasions cited by Giuffre, he was having pizza with his daughter. 
• Giuffre’s description of him “profusely sweating” at a club (in her deposition) is clearly a lie. The reason: He has a medical condition that prevents him from perspiring.  
• And no, he did not buy her alcohol—contrary to her claims—because: “I don't drink, I don't think I've ever bought a drink in Tramps [the club] whenever I was there."

What will happen to him now? 

Well, there is no risk of any jail time since this is a civil case, and he is being sued for damages. In the past, he has refused to even talk to US attorneys investigating the Epstein case, and they have called him out on it: “To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.” But can he do the same in a court case where he is directly accused of sexual abuse?

“David Boies, a lawyer for Ms. Giuffre, said that the lawsuit would likely rely on a method for suing people outside of normal jurisdiction, which would require that papers be served within the United Kingdom. If Prince Andrew were difficult to locate, he said, the court could order that the papers be sent to a representative of the prince. But Mr. Boies said he expected a response. ‘I don’t think he’s going to try to stonewall the court,’ he said.”

But even if he stonewalls, the court can deliver a judgement in his absence—and award damages.

The real damage: will be to his reputation, which may never recover irrespective of what he does. As one lawyer tells Newsweek:

“Reputationally it may already be effectively 'game over' for Prince Andrew despite the lack of any court decision, and notwithstanding his vehement denials...From a reputational perspective, Prince Andrew may be damned if he does respond to the allegations and defend the complaint, and damned if he doesn't."

Point to note: Andrew does not enjoy diplomatic immunity. So if he travels to the United States at any time, he can be compelled to testify in court. 

The wild card: Ghislaine Maxwell, whose case goes to trial soon:

“With this civil suit pending and her about to go to trial on these criminal charges, there may be even more pressure - and indeed temptation - for her to co-operate with federal prosecutors and perhaps provide more information about all of the individuals who were in the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein and that could, allegedly, include the prince himself.”

And what about the royal family?

The Palace has mostly stayed mum on all Andrew-related matters. Back in 2015, it issued a rare statement:

“This relates to long-running and ongoing civil proceedings in the United States to which the Duke of York is not a party. As such we would not comment in detail. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.”

The royal family has since followed an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ strategy, stripping Andrew of his royal duties—and ensuring he simply isn’t seen in public. But this doesn’t mean that the Queen isn’t standing by her second son, as one royal observer once said:

“The Palace, as they always do in a crisis, shut right down and say as little as possible in case it can be used against them later...I’d stick my neck out and say that, even if he is completely implicated, wheels-within-wheels will stop him from being arrested and tried. The Royal family has far more influence than you see.”

The bottomline: The media gives every royal scandal the same weight—be it a family jhagda with Harry or a sex abuse story about Andrew. As long as we treat sexual assault as celebrity misbehaviour, the rich and powerful will always get away with it. Honestly, where’s the outrage?

Reading list

New York Times and BBC News have the best reporting on the lawsuit. Watch Andrew’s disastrous interview here, or read the highlights here. Daily Mail offers a fairly comprehensive look at the legal options for Andrew—and of Giuffre’s account of the sexual abuse. Vox has a good profile of Jeffrey Epstein, while ABC News looks at Ghislaine Maxwell. The Independent charts the rocky history of ‘Air Miles Andy’. Huffington Post has a useful timeline of Epstein’s history of crime.