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Virginia Giuffre’s death has given Prince Andrew a ‘tragic opportunity’ to reveal what he knows about Jeffrey Epstein, an ex-chief prosecutor has said.
The Duke of York has yet to give any statements to authorities about his relationship with the dead paedophile financier.
Andrew, 65, has repeatedly claimed he knew nothing of Epstein’s criminal behaviour.
But lawyers representing Epstein’s victims have argued it would have been ‘impossible’ for the royal to not have known about his abuse.
Speaking shortly after it emerged that Ms Giuffre has died by suicide in Australia, Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for northwest England, said her death gives Andrew a new opportunity to ‘bring justice’ to the victims.
He told The Sun: ‘Ms Giuffre, like many victims, has had to fight for justice and it takes courage but also takes its toll.
‘It’s extraordinary that the only people to pay the price for Epstein’s crimes against women are women.
‘He (Prince Andrew) always should have told the FBI what he knows but her death gives him a tragic opportunity to bring justice.’
Ms Giuffre was sex trafficked by Epstein as a teenager and claimed she had sex with Andrew twice – once when she was 17.
The pair were even pictured together in a now-infamous photo.
The late Queen’s second son has always denied the claims. Despite this, in 2022 he paid an undisclosed amount of money – thought to be around £12million – to her in an out-of-court settlement.
In a statement at the time, the duke accepted that Ms Guiffre was a victim of abuse and pledged to ‘demonstrate his regret for his association’ with Epstein.
However, it contained no admission of liability or an apology.
Ms Giuffre, who was born in the USA, relocated to Australia with her former husband after escaping Epstein’s clutches.
Speaking following her death, her family said the mum-of-three was a ‘fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse’ but that the ‘toll of abuse… became unbearable’.
‘She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,’ they said in a statement.
Ms Giuffre was abused and trafficked by Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and his madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence.
After being hired as a masseuse, she was flown around the world for meetings with men while she was 17 and 18.
It was during this period that she alleged she had sex with Andrew – the first time in London after they met in Tramp nightclub in 2001.
The scandal surrounding his links to Epstein, and a car crash Newsnight interview in 2019, ended Andrew’s career as a front line royal.
Epstein’s victims have since been calling for the duke to give evidence to authorities about the paedophile, in the hope it will expose the full extent of the couple’s twisted ‘sexual pyramid scheme’.
This is because Andrew may hold key information about Epstein – even if he did nothing wrong, Mr Afzal said.
He said: ‘He may have information or evidence that is significant.
‘I’ve prosecuted several thousand sexual offences, including those that happened years before.
‘They are some of the most difficult cases to prosecute because it’s often one person’s word against another without any supporting evidence.
‘I often longed for another witness who saw or heard anything to come forward to strengthen my cases.
‘Anybody with information is like the last piece of a jigsaw that enables you to see the bigger picture.’
Metro has contacted the duke for comment.
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