Met Police ‘have spoken to Prince Andrew accuser’, reports claim
Officers have reportedly quizzed Virginia Giuffre, who has accused the royal of sexual assault
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Your support makes all the difference.Police officers have reportedly spoken to Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre in a development that may lead the Metropolitan Police to open a criminal investigation into her sexual abuse claims, reports say.
According to The Sunday Times, officers approached Ms Giuffre about her allegations that she was raped by the Duke of York while being trafficked by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew strenuously denies these claims.
The newspaper also claims that Prince William believes his uncle poses a threat to the royal family’s reputation and that he shouldn’t be allowed to rejoin public life.
The Duke of Cambridge is reportedly concerned that Prince Andrew’s “ungracious and ungrateful attitude” towards his position as a royal is a “risk” and a “threat” to the family.
Kensington Palace has been contacted for comment.
In August, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said that the force would monitor developments in Ms Giuffre’s civil suit against the Duke of York in the US and review its position not to open an investigation into the allegations.
She told LBC at the time that “no one is above the law”, and added that police are “open to working with authorities from overseas”.
Ms Giuffre has alleged that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell in London, in 2001, when she was about 17 years old.
Ms Maxwell and Prince Andrew deny this.
She also alleges that she was made to have sex with him in Epstein’s New York mansion and on his private island, which Prince Andrew also denies.
The Met Police has examined Ms Giuffre’s allegations at least twice since 2015 but has never opened an investigation, saying that the matter is for US authorities.
Prince Andrew stepped back from public life in 2019 shortly after an interview with BBC Newsnight in which he was questioned about his friendship with Epstein.
The Met Police force has not confirmed reports that officers have spoken to Ms Giuffre.