Jeffrey Epstein is dead and Ghislaine Maxwell stands convicted of numerous human trafficking crimes, but many of their alleged co-conspirators remain at large. Victims on both sides of the Atlantic claim they were preyed upon by the high and mighty but the predators remain unindicted and, as yet, unaccountable. Among the most high-profile of these alleged abusers is Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and ninth in line to the British throne.
The Duke, the third child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, faces a civil lawsuit by Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre), whom Epstein recruited as a sex slave when she was still a minor. Roberts claims that Epstein and Maxwell trafficked her to Andrew in March 2001. She then met and danced with Andrew at a London club. Roberts says that during the drive back to Maxwell’s residence, Maxwell instructed her to do for Andrew what she’d done for Epstein. Roberts repeatedly complied, feeling trapped in the Epstein-Maxwell network. She claims she also saw Andrew engaged in an orgy with other underage girls in Little St. James.
Last year, Roberts sued Andrew in the Southern District of New York under the state’s Child Victims Act for compensatory expenses, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. Roberts stated that Epstein molested her but also “lent” her out to “other powerful men for sexual purposes.” She alleges that “Prince Andrew committed sexual assault and battery upon [Roberts] when she was 17 years old. As such, Prince Andrew is responsible for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress pursuant to New York common law. The damage to Plaintiff has been severe and lasting.”
In support of her claims of emotional distress, Roberts claims, “Prince Andrew’s actions…constitute extreme and outrageous conduct that shocks the conscience. Prince Andrew’s sexual abuse of a child who he knew was a sex-trafficking victim, and when he was approximately 40 years old, goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilized community.”
Despite simmering accusations, the Duke had held Roberts at bay for years with a series of far-fetched excuses: he does not sweat; he does not hug; he was out for pizza rather than partying the night of the first alleged encounter.
But Roberts has gathered evidence that suggests otherwise. She produced a photograph showing Andrew with his arm around her in Maxwell’s London apartment, with Maxwell herself standing behind them. Former waitress Shukri Walker says she remembers Andrew dancing with Roberts at the Tramp nightclub, particularly because she spoke to Andrew after accidentally stepping on his foot. Roberts successfully sued and settled claims against Maxwell for defaming her, and filed suits against various other people whom she alleges abused her alongside Epstein. For his part, Andrew has refused to cooperate with American law enforcement.
In court, Andrew’s legal team responded by stating he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.” Andrew’s lawyers claim their client is protected by a now-unsealed 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Roberts, but the trial judge expressed skepticism of that line of argument during a hearing this week. Lawyers also are challenging the constitutionality of the New York law and suggest Roberts harbors a financial motive for suing Andrew and Epstein.
The House of Windsor has faced a slew of public relations disasters in the age of instant media. Fresh off of claims of racist bullying after Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle left royal duties, the latest evidence of egomaniacal entitlement by Andrew further jeopardizes the global standing of the British royal family.
In his youth, Andrew attained a playboy reputation. As an adult, he has contributed nothing of discernible value to the shrinking British empire. To the contrary, he and his live-in ex-wife have used their status to line their own troughs, befriending suspect but well-heeled characters such as Epstein.
At best, Andrew is guilty of exceedingly poor judgment. At worst, he may find himself found out by the long arm of the law, aided by the current of justice exposing the deeply buried epidemic of sexual exploitation.
Either way, the day of reckoning is finally here for at least one of Epstein’s purported cohorts. Time’s up, Prince Andrew.
Rachel Kunjummen Paulose is a 1997 graduate of Yale Law School and a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota (2006-08).
