LONDON (AP) — London police are investigating whether Prince Andrew asked an officer assigned to him as a bodyguard to dig up dirt on Virginia Giuffre, an accuser in a sexual assault case.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it is “actively looking into” media reports that in 2011, Andrew sought information to discredit Giuffre by asking a police officer to find out if she had a criminal record. This report, published by the Mail on Sunday, came shortly after Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that Andrew had agreed to relinquish his use of the Duke of York title and other remaining royal honors.
The decision followed the emergence of emails revealing that Andrew maintained contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein longer than he had previously admitted. Giuffre’s family welcomed the news of the duke’s demotion but called on King Charles III to go further by stripping Andrew of his prince title.
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
The emails marked a breaking point for the House of Windsor, which has endured years of damaging headlines about Andrew’s controversial friendships and questionable business dealings. Efforts to distance the monarchy from Andrew’s scandals began in November 2019, when he stepped down from all public duties and charity roles. This followed a widely criticized interview in which he tried to counter media reports about his association with Epstein and denied allegations of having sex with Giuffre when she was 17 — claims she has said were trafficked by Epstein in 2001.
Andrew faced intense backlash for his apparent lack of empathy toward Epstein’s victims and for providing unconvincing explanations about his friendship with the disgraced financier. During the 2019 BBC interview, Andrew claimed he cut off contact with Epstein in 2010. However, that statement was later contradicted by emails that surfaced last week showing he emailed Epstein on February 28, 2011. In one note, Andrew wrote that they were “in this together” and would “have to rise above it.”
According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2011, shortly before the newspaper planned to publish a now-infamous photograph of the prince with his arm around Giuffre’s partly bare midriff, Andrew gave his bodyguard Giuffre’s date of birth and confidential social security number to investigate whether she had a questionable past. It remains unclear if the officer acted on this request. Giuffre’s family stated she did not have a criminal record.
With this report and the upcoming posthumous release of Giuffre’s memoir on Tuesday, the scandal is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, appearing on Sunday morning news programs as the government’s representative, stated that a police officer should not be involved in any smear campaign. “These are deeply concerning allegations,” Miliband told the BBC. “I think people want to look at those allegations and what the substance is behind them. But if that is correct, that is absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used.”
In 2022, Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre following her civil lawsuit filed in New York. Although he did not admit wrongdoing, Andrew acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.
In his statement on Friday, Andrew reiterated that he continues to “vigorously deny” the accusations against him.
https://wtop.com/lifestyle/2025/10/police-looking-into-whether-prince-andrew-enlisted-officer-to-dig-up-dirt-on-accuser-giuffre/
