DISGRACED royal Prince Andrew has remained in hiding following the death of abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre.
The Duke of York, who was accused of seriously sexually assaulting Ms Giuffre in the early 2000s, has kept a low profile following the announcement of her death by suicide last Friday.
Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations regarding his behaviour towards Ms Giuffre.
The royal missed his “regular Saturday morning horse ride” as the news broke this weekend, and was briefly spotted with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson on Sunday before returning to his Royal Lodge mansion.
The royal outcast will no longer attend next weekend’s 80th VE Day commemorations alongside the rest of the family despite joining them publicly for Easter Sunday celebrations.
Ms Giuffre first publicly accused the prince of abuse in 2019, an allegation Andrew and the rest of the royal family still vehemently denies, and later filed a lawsuit which was settled out of court in 2022.
She claimed she was trafficked to him by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein when she was 17, and that three occasions of sexual abuse took place across London, New York and the Caribbean.
Following the settlement, the prince promised in a statement he’d “demonstrate his regret for his association” with Epstein by supporting organisations targeting the “evils of sex trafficking,” including the late Ms Giuffre’s organisation SOAR, though there have never been any reports of Andrew doing so other than the undisclosed sum paid obligatorily to Giuffre.
Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, reportedly instructed Ms Giuffre to “do for him [Prince Andrew] what you do for Jeffrey” following the pair’s initial meeting at London’s Club Tramp, where then-17-year-old Giuffre was allegedly plied with alcohol.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in 2022 for her role in facilitating Epstein’s trafficking and abuse ring, whilst Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019.
According to The Sun, insiders believe Andrew was plotting a return to royal life which no longer looks viable, given his silence on Giuffre’s suicide and inability to prove her as an unreliable witness.
The Samaritans can be contacted via 116 123 if you need support. Rape Crisis Scotland can be reached on 08088 01 03 02
