NEED TO KNOW
- British police said they will take “no further action” following claims that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) asked a police protection officer to look into accuser Virginia Giuffre
- Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, had filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Andrew, alleging she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
- Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing
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British police will take no further action regarding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor despite recent claims that he asked his police protection officer for information about accuser Virginia Giuffre.
In a press release issued by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on Saturday, Dec. 13, Central Specialist Crime Commander Ella Marriott stated: “Following recent reporting suggesting that Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked his Met Police close protection officer to carry out checks on Ms Giuffre in 2011, the MPS has carried out a further assessment. This assessment has not revealed any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct.”
“To date, we have not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation. In the absence of any further information, we will be taking no further action,” she added.
PEOPLE reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment on Saturday, Dec. 13, but did not receive an immediate response.
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Leaked email correspondence suggested that Andrew, 65, asked his police protection officer, a taxpayer-funded position, to uncover personal information about Giuffre more than a decade ago and provided the officer with her social security number and date of birth in order to do so, according to reports from the BBC, The Telegraph and The Guardian.
The leaked emails were allegedly sent to the officer just before a photo of Andrew and a then-underage Giuffre — who died by suicide in April at 41 — surfaced in 2011, per The Guardian. There is no suggestion that the officer complied with the royal’s request, the outlet reported.
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In 2021, Giuffre filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Andrew in which she alleged she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was 17.
She recounted each occasion in detail in her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.
U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called the leaked emails “deeply concerning” while appearing on the BBC One political program Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on Oct. 19. He called for the claims to be investigated, stating it is “absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used.”
The leaked emails surfaced shortly after Andrew discontinued the use of his royal titles and honors amid renewed interest in his relationship with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.