"We are all in shock" The tragic suicide of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accuses Prince Andrew of abusing her as a minor, speaks at a press conference outside a Manhattan court in August 2019.
Image: Bebeto Matthews/AP/dpa
Jeffrey Epstein (M) appears in court in West Palm Beach in July 2019.
Image: Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post/AP/dpa
Virginia Giuffre had accused Prince Andrew, who had been friends with Jeffrey Epstein for years, of abusing her several times when she was 17 years old.
Image: Neil Hall/PA Wire/dpa
This undated photo provided by the US Department of Justice shows Prince Andrew (l-r), Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre from the USA and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Image: Us Department Of Justice/PA Media/dpa
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accuses Prince Andrew of abusing her as a minor, speaks at a press conference outside a Manhattan court in August 2019.
Image: Bebeto Matthews/AP/dpa
Jeffrey Epstein (M) appears in court in West Palm Beach in July 2019.
Image: Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post/AP/dpa
Virginia Giuffre had accused Prince Andrew, who had been friends with Jeffrey Epstein for years, of abusing her several times when she was 17 years old.
Image: Neil Hall/PA Wire/dpa
This undated photo provided by the US Department of Justice shows Prince Andrew (l-r), Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre from the USA and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Image: Us Department Of Justice/PA Media/dpa
As a teenager, she was the victim of sexual abuse by rich and powerful men. Years later, she brought her tormentors to justice - and brought down a prince in the process.
27.04.2025, 18:35
27.04.2025, 19:37
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- Virginia Giuffre, who attracted worldwide attention with her testimony in the abuse scandal surrounding US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and allegations against British Prince Andrew, has died.
- Giuffre died on her farm in Western Australia, her lawyer Karrie Louden confirmed to the Australian news agency AAP. "We are all in shock," she said.
- Giuffre had been an inspiration. The mother of three was 41 years old.
As the best-known victim, she spoke fearlessly about the abuse scandal surrounding the late US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein: Virginia Giuffre has now died at the age of 41.
Giuffre took her own life on her farm in Western Australia, her lawyer Karrie Louden confirmed to the Australian news agency AAP. "We are all in shock," she said. The mother of three had been an inspiration. Louden stressed that it had been an honor to work with someone who had done so much for the victims of sexual abuse.
A statement from Giuffre's family, quoted by the AAP on Saturday, said: "She lost her life by suicide after a lifetime of sexual abuse and human trafficking."
Alleged meeting with Andrew in London
Virginia Giuffre's statements had caused great distress to Prince Andrew, who had been friends with Epstein for many years.
She accused him of abusing her as a 17-year-old at a meeting in London to which she had brought Epstein and his temporary partner Ghislaine Maxwell.
End of Andrew's role as representative of the royals
Andrew always denied the allegations. However, a civil lawsuit in the USA ended in 2022 in a settlement reportedly worth millions.
For the now 65-year-old Andrew, his involvement in the Epstein scandal also meant the end of his role as an official representative of the British royal family.
A disastrous interview
He had previously tried to dispel the suspicions against him in a BBC interview. But that was a complete failure. Queen Elizabeth II's second eldest son became entangled in contradictions. The interview later even became the basis for a Netflix movie.
Doubts about Andrew's portrayal were fueled, among other things, by a photo that allegedly shows him and Giuffre arm in arm at the aforementioned meeting. The picture also shows Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the scandal.
Andrew's assurances that he did not remember Giuffre seemed implausible. Above all, however, it was Andrew's lack of compassion for Epstein's victims that was his undoing. He didn't even regret being friends with the convicted sex offender, who had run an abuse ring with dozens of victims.
Jet-set life with Epstein and Maxwell
Giuffre, who was born in the USA in 1983 and was called Roberts before her marriage, came from a difficult background. According to her own account, she was recruited by Maxwell as a personal masseuse for Epstein in 2000. At the time, she was working in a temporary job at the Mar-a-Lago resort of future US President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. Her father had a job there as a janitor.
She soon accompanied Epstein and Maxwell on their jet-set life in private jets around the world - and not only had to perform sexual favors for Epstein. The businessman moved in the highest circles and also introduced other powerful men to the victims Maxwell had made submissive.
The difficulties did not stop
At the time, Giuffre had already suffered years of abuse. Even as a teenager, she lived on the streets at times. Maxwell and Epstein gave her the impression of being "nice people", she later said. But the two were to seriously abuse the trust of the young people.
That the difficulties for Giuffre did not end with the end of the civil proceedings against Andrew and Maxwell's conviction became clear at the latest when she posted a disturbing post on Instagram at the end of March in which she claimed to have only a few days to live after an accident. However, her injuries did not appear to be quite as dramatic as portrayed.
Giuffre does not appear to have managed to turn her life around in the long term. Her relationship with her husband had reportedly broken down. She herself was charged with disobeying a restraining order due to domestic violence.
