The woman at the centre of the Prince Andrew royal interview furore lives low-key life in Cairns

The woman at the centre of the Prince Andrew saga is living a low-key life in Cairns and is set to speak out about her claims in a new interview.

The woman at the centre of one of the biggest scandals to have rocked the royal family in decades is living a low-key life in a gated community in Cairns, Queensland and is set to tell her side of the story.

A picture of a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, with Prince Andrew believed to be taken in the Belgravia terrace of Epstein’s then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001 has become the defining image of the long-running saga that led to Prince Andrew being forced to step back from public life for the “forseeable future”.

The 36-year-old has been one of the most vocal accusers against disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, claiming she was recruited as an underage sex slave and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times between 1999 and 2002.

Prince Andrew has always strenuously denied he had sex with Ms Giuffre, and said he has no recollection of meeting her.

Jeffrey Epstein, 66, committed suicide in a New York jail cell in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

A picture of Virginia Giuffre at 17 with Prince Andrew that he has said he has no recollection of. Picture: US District Court Southern District of Florida

Virginia Giuffre says Jeffrey Epstein began abusing her sexually when she was 16. Picture: Supplied

Now, Virginia Giuffre is set to tell her side of the story in an in-depth interview with the BBC’s Panorama programme that was filmed before Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview went to air.

Here’s what you need to know about the woman at the centre of the royal saga:

WHO IS VIRGINIA GIUFFRE?

Despite being caught up in one of the world’s most high-profile alleged sex trafficking cases, Mrs Giuffre lives a world away in a quiet community in Cairns with her husband Robert, and their three children.

As her name and picture hit the headlines in connection with royalty and horrendous allegations of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, she has been pictured out shopping and on the school run in Cairns, where locals have described the couple as “lovely.”

“They’re both lovely, especially her,” a bartender at a local pub told Woman’s Day. “I can’t believe she’s involved with all that. It just goes to show that you never know anything about people.”

Virginia Roberts has been the most outspoken of Epstein’s alleged victims. Picture: Emily Michot/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images

For Mrs Giuffre, the case has been a 15-year ordeal after she launched a legal case against the United States government for how they handled Epstein’s prosecution in 2005. She has continually spoken out about the alleged abuse she suffered as a girl and alleges she was recruited to be a “sex slave” for Jeffrey Epstein by his then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell.

Mrs Giuffre claims she was recruited by Maxwell at the age of 15 while working at the Mar-a-Lago spa in Florida.

Virginia Roberts was just 15 when she was allegedly recruited to be Jeffrey Epstein’s sex slave.

In court documents, she claimed she was taken on a trip to New York by Epstein and Maxwell when she was still 15, with the pair allegedly training her to be “everything a man wanted me to be”.

“Over the next few weeks, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trained me to do what they wanted, including sexual activities and the use of sexual toys,” she alleged in the documents.

“The training was in New York and Florida, at Epstein’s mansions. It was basically every day and was like going to school. I also had to have sex with Epstein many times.”

Mrs Giuffre is one of the few alleged Epstein victims to have gone public with their accusations, and she previously claimed she was used for the multi-millionaire’s sexual purposes until she was 19, when she became “too old” for him.

The court papers allege that during those years she was taken on trips around the world and given to men for sexual purposes.

Epstein was awaiting trial for child sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his jail cell. Picture: New York State Sex Offender Registry/AP

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PRINCE ANDREW

Mrs Giuffre claims she was introduced to Prince Andrew, a friend of Epstein’s, in London in 2001 when she was just 17.

The infamous photo of the pair is believed to have been taken in Belgravia, London at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001. However in a recent interview with BBC Newsnight, Prince Andrew said he didn’t remember ever meeting her.

“I don’t remember meeting her at all. I do not remember the photograph being taken and I’ve said consistently and frequently that we never had any sexual contact whatever,” he said.

“I’m at a loss to explain this particular photograph.”

The Duke also said he could not have had sex with her the night in question because he was taking his daughter, Princess Beatrice, for pizza. He said he wasn’t in Tramp nightclub as she alleged and couldn’t have been sweating because he had a medical condition after suffering from adrenalin overload in the Falklands War.

Virginia Roberts, as she was then known. Picture: US District Southern District of Florida

The royal’s friends have also claimed the picture “doctored”, with sources suggesting his fingers look “too chubby” and their heights don’t look right.

Following the death of Jeffrey Epstein, Mrs Giuffre has urged Prince Andrew to “come clean”, saying he needs to “stop with all of these lame excuses”.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, which aired about a week before Andrew’s BBC interview, the 36-year-old said the photo had never been contested by police as fake.

“This photo has been verified as an original and it’s been since given to the FBI and they’ve never contested that it’s a fake. I know it’s real,’ she said.

“He needs to stop with all of these lame excuses. We’re sick of hearing it. This is a real photo. That’s the very first time I met him.”

Since Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview, Mrs Giuffre has tweeted a string of messages showing support for victims of sexual abuse and calling for authorities to continue investigating.

A BBC interview with Mrs Giuffre is set to air on December 2, where she will lay out her side of the story when it comes to allegations about Prince Andrew.

Roberts claimed the photo has never been questioned as fake by the FBI. Picture: 60 Minutes/Channel 9