In 2015, a 32-year-old woman comes forward with an allegation surrounding then Miami financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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At the time, there are only murmurs about an alleged and powerful sex abuse ring. Seven years earlier, in 2008, Epstein had been granted a secret plea deal that ensured he avoided federal charges.
The deal’s leniency means he can still work. Powerful men like Microsoft founder Bill Gates still look to court his influence.
In 2015, the woman — named Virginia Roberts Giuffre — makes a testimony that slowly splinters that reputation.
Not only is she one of Epstein’s underage victims, she says, but she alleges abuse that traces all the way to England’s most powerful family.
“I knew he was a member of the British royal family, but I just called him ‘Andy’,” she says.
She alleges she was raped, not once but three times, by Prince Andrew.
Now, a prince no longer, Ms Roberts Giuffre’s testimony has been finally heard — a decade too late.
Let down from birth
From around nine, Ms Roberts Giuffre is thrust into exploitation.
The South Floridian’s posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl details how her father sexually abused her and “traded” her with a neighbour.
Her father, Sky William Roberts, has denied those allegations.
At age 15, homeless, she is taken in by a sex trafficker who then hands her over to a supposed nightclub owner.
When her father gets a job at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the “manicured grounds” are almost like an oasis.
Ms Roberts Giuffre, in tandem, starts working in the resort’s spa as a locker room attendant.
It is here she envisions a future bigger than what she has been dealt, a chance to turn the resort into her own place of rest.
“Maybe, I thought, [the guests’] healing would fuel my own,” she writes.
Tragically, it is not a dream that lasts long.
All too soon, she meets the woman who will steal any plans of a reprieve: Ghislaine Maxwell.
Under the guise of massage therapy, Maxwell — Epstein’s accomplice and fixer — recruits the young Ms Roberts Giuffre.
And what begins as massages soon spirals into oral sex, orgies and unfathomable cruelty.
“It started with one and it trickled into two and so on,” Ms Roberts Giuffre told The Miami Herald in 2008.
“Before you know it, I’m being lent out to politicians and academics and royalty.”
At 17, Ms Roberts Giuffre should be in high school.
Instead, she is being handed from one powerful man to another, in the guise of jet-setting around the globe.
Stripped of his titles and his home, Prince Andrew’s humiliation is complete
In 2001, she travels to London to meet Maxwell’s close friend Prince Andrew, Ms Roberts Giuffre writes in her memoir.
When Andrew guesses her age correctly, he explains it is because his “daughters are just a little younger”.
Ms Roberts Giuffre writes she asked for the photo that has now become the defining image of Andrew’s downfall.
A smiling Maxwell, Andrew with his hand curled around a teen torso. Ms Roberts Giuffre in a baby pink top and sparkly jeans in ode to her pop icon Britney Spears.
What allegedly follows next is no different from what Ms Roberts Giuffre must have endured countless times by then. Another man who believed her body was his to take.
“He believed having sex with me was his birthright,” Ms Roberts Giuffre alleges in her memoir.
The next morning, Maxwell tells her: “The prince had fun.”
Ms Roberts Giuffre alleges she meets Andrew two more times: once involving an inappropriate puppet and once on Epstein’s island during an orgy with other young girls.
At 19, Epstein and his circle had lost interest in Ms Roberts Giuffre.
She says she was simply too old.
Told to pick up a woman in Thailand for Epstein, Ms Roberts Giuffre made a choice that would finally set her free.
She fell in love.
She moved halfway around the globe to escape Epstein, eventually settling in Australia with husband Robert Giuffre.
But even then, pregnant with her second child, Epstein’s tendrils would linger.
In 2007, she received calls from both Maxwell and Epstein warning her to stay silent amid police investigations.
“I was still scared to death,” she explained in 2008.
“Jeffrey used to tell me that he owned the entire Palm Beach Police Department. I just didn’t want my family harmed.”
She already had two sons, but the birth of her daughter finally ignited a reason to fight.
Virginia Giuffre’s memoir released
After a Daily Mail interview in 2011, Ms Roberts Giuffre went public with her 2015 testimony.
It included that photo of herself and Andrew.
Both Andrew and Buckingham Palace vigorously denied the claims, with the royal saying he had no recollection of it being taken.
He then doubled down in a now-infamous BBC Newsnight interview, telling journalist Emily Maitlis he never spoke to Epstein after December 2010.
This is now known to be false.
“He knows what happened,” Ms Roberts Giuffre reiterated in a follow-up BBC interview.
“I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth.”A posthumous victory
In many ways, justice has been robbed from Ms Roberts Giuffre.
In 2019, facing sex trafficking charges, Epstein was found dead inside his New York cell, with investigators saying he killed himself.
“We’ve worked so hard to get here, and he stole that from us, too,” she remarked of his death before trial.
The key names from Jeffrey Epstein’s rich and powerful circle
Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and abuse charges in 2021, now looks to seek a presidential pardon.
A civil settlement between Ms Roberts Giuffre and Andrew was finalised in 2022 behind closed doors.
All the while, denying allegations, Andrew was able to keep his title as Duke of York and live in the Royal Lodge.
Even as he loses his princely status, the palace is firm to assure the public the “necessary” move is “not withstanding the fact that [Andrew] continues to deny the allegations against him”.
And Ms Roberts Giuffre— after a life most would struggle to fathom — died by suicide in April this year, aged just 41.
Her 2025 memoir, released amid heightened attention over Epstein’s insidious ties, may perhaps be the one way Ms Roberts Giuffre can continue the fight.
“Virginia wanted all the men who she’d been trafficked to against her will to be held to account,” memoir collaborator Amy Wallace told ABC upon news of Andrew’s stripped titles.
“And this is just one of the men, but he is being forced to, even though he continues to deny it.
“His life is being eroded because of his past behaviour.”
For her lawyer Sigrid McCawley this “tipping point” must prove one thing.
“It should be a lesson for all to listen, hear and believe survivors of abuse.”A timeline of Andrew’s demise
Tap the boxes below to see the key dates in the series of events that ended with Andrew being stripped of his royal titles and told to leave home.
2001–2011
March, 2001: Photo taken of Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre (then known as Virginia Roberts) and Ghislaine Maxwell in London — allegedly by late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
December, 2010: Prince Andrew photographed with Epstein in Central Park, New York — after Epstein was released from prison on a sexual offence charge
February 21, 2011: New York Post publishes photo of Andrew and Epstein with headline “Prince and perv”
February 27, 2011: Daily Mail publishes interview with Virginia Giuffre and the now infamous photo — but article stops short of accusing him of misconduct
February 28, 2011: Prince Andrew allegedly emails Epstein saying “we’re in this together” and “we’ll play some more soon” in reference to negative press
Sexual assault support lines:1800 Respect National Helpline: 1800 737 732Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578Bravehearts: counselling and support for survivors of child sexual abuse: 1800 272 831Child Wise: counselling provider: 1800 991 0992015–2019
Janaury, 2015: Allegations Prince Andrew has sex with a minor made public as part of a lawsuit against Epstein
January, 2015: Daily Mail publishes story identifying Virginia Roberts as the victim in the case, including details of the night of the alleged offence
July, 2019: Epstein arrested on sex trafficking charges
August, 2019: Epstein found dead in his jail cell
November 16, 2019: Prince Andrew gives lengthy interview with BBC denying sexual abuse allegations, saying he does not sweat, that he cut off contact with Epstein in December 2010 and questioning the legitimacy of the 2001 photo
November 20, 2019: Prince Andrew steps back from public duties “for the foreseeable future” because his relations with Epstein became “a major disruption”
If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467Lifeline on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636Headspace on 1800 650 890ReachOut at au.reachout.comMensLine Australia on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 5272021–2025
September, 2021: Prince Andrew served with sexual assault civil lawsuit papers, lodged in the US by Virginia Giuffre
October, 2021: British police say they will not be taking further action after conducting a review of evidence relating to sex crime allegations against Prince Andrew
Janaury, 2022: Prince Andrew is stripped of his honorary military titles after a judge rejects his bid to have the civil lawsuit dismissed — but he remains a prince and the Duke of York
February, 2022: Prince Andrew reaches a settlement with Virginia Giuffre in her civil case, agreeing to donate to her victims’ rights charity
September, 2024: Prince Andrew told to pay for the upkeep of the 30-room Royal Lodge mansion he rents from the Crown Estate if he wants to keep living there, the BBC reports
December 14, 2024: Prince Andrew says he “ceased all contact” with an unnamed businessman accused of being a Chinese spy
February, 2025: Court documents made public reveal email sent to Epstein saying “we’re in this together” and “we’ll play soon” from a member of the royal family — who British media says it’s believed was Prince Andrew
April, 2025: Virginia Giuffre dies by suicide, with her family calling her a “fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking”
If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467Lifeline on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636Headspace on 1800 650 890ReachOut at au.reachout.comMensLine Australia on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 527
September, 2025: Multiple charities cut ties with Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson after it was revealed she emailed Epstein calling him “a supreme friend” in 2011
October 12, 2025: The Daily Mail and The Sun claim to have confirmed the email was sent from Prince Andrew — contradicting his assertion he cut off contacts with Epstein in December 2010
October 15, 2025: Extracts of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir published by British media revive allegations against Prince Andrew
October 16, 2015: British newspaper The Telegraph publishes story linking Prince Andrew with a different “Chinese spymaster”
October 17, 2025: Prince Andrew announces he will no longer use his titles and honours while “vigorously” denying allegations — however, he has not been stripped of his Dukedom and is referred to as a prince
October 21, 2025: The BBC reveals details of Prince Andrew’s “peppercorn” lease of Royal Lodge amid growing scrutiny in his lavish living arrangements
October 30, 2025: Prince Andrew is stripped of his royal titles and told to leave Royal Lodge — he is now referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor