Not only is the royal family’s traditional summer vacation at Balmoral the first since Prince Philip’s death, it begins in a tense atmosphere to say the least. Arriving at the end of July in her Scottish castle, Queen Elizabeth has since been joined by Prince Charles and Camilla, Princess Eugenie, but also her mother Sarah Ferguson and her father Prince Andrew … at the same time that a complaint was filed against the latter in New York. On August 10, 2021, her 38th birthday, Virginia (Roberts Giuffre filed a rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse complaint against the Duke of York. Will the vacation turn into a royal crisis meeting?
The American claims Prince Andrew is “one of the mighty men“to who she was”delivery for sexual purposes“when she was the victim between 2000 and 2002, from the age of 16, of the vast sex trafficking for which the financier Jeffrey Epstein was charged and imprisoned, before killing herself in a Manhattan prison, in the summer of 2019. The Briton would “sexually assaulted“Virginia Giuffre on three occasions: in London at a very close to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and in the properties of the businessman in New York and in the Virgin Islands.
For the first time since the start of this affair, Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre’s father spoke to the Sun from his Florida home. The 65-year-old American, a certain Sky Roberts, fully supported his daughter in her approach and denounced the Duke of York’s attitude: “The royal family is not above the law. This is not how it works. They can’t do whatever they want. People are fighting. That’s what Virginia does, she retaliates. She has to do what she thinks is right“, he commented.”He can go about his business, he is not prosecuted for nothing. He should face these charges. I hope this can set the record straight. I don’t think it’s about the money, it’s about doing the right thing.”
A silence that makes a lot of noise
Now 61, Prince Andrew strongly denied these accusations in an interview deemed calamitous to the BBC in November 2019. Despite his denials, his relationship with American businessman Jeffrey Epstein had plunged him into the torments and forced to withdraw from public life. Since the complaint was filed in New York on Monday, Prince Andrew and his legal team have remained silent. An overwhelming strategy that would worry Prince Charles and his son Prince William, worried about the repercussions on the Crown, they who are the heirs. A silence that Prince Andrew would also maintain within the framework of the FBI investigation into the misdeeds of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Yet the father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie had promised to cooperate in front of BBC cameras.
If the Duke of York remains silent, this is not the case with the head of Scotland Yard, Dame Cressida Dick, who assured that the English police would help to clarify this matter. “No one is above the law“, she notably recalled to LBC radio, while explaining that for the moment, the American authorities consider the Duke of York as a witness, rather than a suspect, in their investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity, unlike his mother the Queen.
The case could be heard by a judge here “the middle of next year“according to Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer. For sure, this would cast a shadow over the jubilee of Elizabeth II, who is about to celebrate her 70 years on the throne with great pomp. National celebrations which Prince Andrew can hardly take share if his legal disputes are still relevant …
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