Scotland Yard drops probe into Prince Andrew

Metropolitan Police decide to take no further action following a fresh investigation into the sex abuse claims by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Prince Andrew. Picture: AFP

Scotland Yard has decided to take no further action following a fresh investigation into the sex abuse and sex trafficking claims levelled at Prince Andrew by Australian mother Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

The Metropolitan Police said it had reviewed its earlier decision not to investigate the activities of Andrew’s friend, Ameri­can financier Jeffrey Epstein – at the time believing it fell outside its jurisdiction.

This week, Scotland Yard said it had reviewed the case, having been provided with information from broadcaster Channel 4, which had aired a program earlier in the year about Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite.

It had also reviewed documents from the civil case being pursued by Ms Giuffre, 38, in the New York district court, where she is suing Andrew for battery and emotional distress under the Child Sex Act.

Scotland Yard said it “reviewed information passed to us by a media organisation in June” and decided “no further action will be taken”.

A spokesman added: “As a matter of procedure, Metropolitan Police Service officers reviewed a document released in August 2021 as part of a US civil action. This review has concluded and we are taking no further action.”

Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell inside the London Mews home of Ghislaine Maxwell (right).

Scotland Yard said it continued to liaise with other law enforcement authorities that have taken the lead in the case. The decision will have no bearing on the civil action.

Senior royals are perturbed by the scandal and Prince Charles, Prince William and others such as Prince Edward and Princess Anne have agreed that Andrew can’t return to any public activities as a royal member.

It has been reported that ­William, who is “no fan of Uncle Andrew”, believes Andrew is a threat to the royal family.

Andrew has vigorously denied all of Ms Giuffre’s alle­gations, saying he can’t remember ever meeting her and suggesting a photograph of him with his arm around her from 2001 was somehow doctored.

He said he unequivocally regretted his ill-judged association with Epstein.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre alleges that she was recruited by Ms Maxwell in 2000 when she was 16 and working at Mar-a-Lago.

She said she was then pimped by Epstein to provide sex to his well-connected colleagues.

In legal depositions, Ms Giuffre says she had sex with Andrew on three occasions in 2001, when she was 17, at Epstein’s Manhattan house, in London at Ms Maxwell’s mews house and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands

She alleges that Andrew engaged in sexual acts without her consent, knowing she was she was “a sex-trafficking victim”.

In the civil case, the district judge has allowed Andrew’s lawyers to receive a copy of a confidential agreement between Epstein and Ms Giuffre, which Andrew hopes means he cannot be pursued in the courts.