Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre's funeral held in secret in Australia as cops provide update on her tragic death
Giuffre was tragically found dead at her remote farmhouse, an hour north of Perth, on April 25 after years of torment.
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She was the most prominent victim of notorious Epstein and was found dead by police before her family revealed she had died by suicide.
She said she was trafficked to Prince Andrew by Epstein and his madam, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Mum-of-three Virginia, who was estranged from her husband Robert, had also accused the royal of sexual abuse on three occasions, including when she was just 17.
Prince Andrew has denied the allegations and claimed to have never met Virginia.
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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to lower-security prison in Texas
Ghislaine Maxwell, the associate of Jeffrey Epstein who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes, has been transferred from a federal prison in Florida, to a lower-security facility in Texas, the US Bureau of Prisons said on Friday. 'We can confirm, Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas,' a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. Maxwell's attorney, David Oscar Markus, also confirmed the transfer but declined further comment. FPC Bryan is described as a 'minimum security federal prison camp' that houses 635 female inmates. According to the Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator, the Texas facility is also home to Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced former CEO of the California-based blood-testing company Theranos, who is serving a lengthy sentence for fraud. Real Housewives of Salt Lake City TV star Jen Shah is also serving time there for fraud. Maxwell's move from FCI Tallahassee, a low-security prison, to the federal prison camp in Bryan comes roughly a week after she was interviewed in Florida over two days about the Epstein case by the deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, who is also one of Donald Trump's former lawyers. Blanche had said that he wanted to speak with Maxwell – who was sentenced in 2022 for sex trafficking and other related crimes – to see if she might have 'information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims'. Details of that meeting have not been made public but Maxwell's lawyer described it as 'very productive', adding that Maxwell answered the questions 'honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability'. The interview took place amid growing political and public pressure on the Trump administration to release additional federal documents related to the Epstein case – a case which has, for years, been the subject of countless conspiracy theories. Earlier in July, the justice department drew bipartisan criticism and backlash after announcing that it would not be releasing any more documents from the investigation into the late Epstein, who died in prison in New York in 2019 while awaiting federal trial. This was despite earlier pledges to release more files, by the US president and the US attorney general, Pam Bondi. Last week, the House of Representatives committee on oversight and government reform subpoenaed Maxwell to testify via deposition later this month. In response, Maxwell's lawyer sent a letter to lawmakers this week stating that Maxwell was willing to testify but only if certain conditions are met, including being granted immunity. In that same letter, Maxwell also made a plea for clemency. But on Friday, the House indefinitely postponed that deposition. Meanwhile, Maxwell has petitioned the US supreme court to overturn her conviction.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Prince Andrew should testify to US lawmakers under oath over his ties to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, says top lawyer
A top lawyer representing Jeffrey Epstein 's victims has demanded Prince Andrew testifies about his links to the infamous paedophile socialite. Famed lawyer Gloria Allred, 84, said the Duke of York should volunteer to speak under oath before Congress. The 65-year-old has maintained his denial of ever sleeping with Virginia Giuffre, the Epstein victim Andrew was pictured with when she was 17, with the pair standing next to jailed predator Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew's lawyers have denied that he has refused to cooperate with US Epstein investigators. Allred told The Daily Mirror: 'Now more than ever, he should come forward. He could volunteer to testify publicly. 'Is he willing to testify before Congress? Is he willing to give more information to the Justice Department? And if not, why not? 'His silence is a statement that he's not willing to help for some reason.' It came as a bombshell book called Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, by Andrew Lownie, revealed Jeffrey Epstein said of Prince Andrew: 'We are both serial sex addicts. He's the only person I have met who is more obsessed with p***y than me. 'From the reports I've got back from the women we've shared, he's the most perverted animal in the bedroom. He likes to engage in stuff that's even kinky to me – and I'm the king of kink!' The book, which the Duke and Duchess of York tried to ban, explores how the couple 'fell from grace because of the flaws in their own characters and how they were allowed to leverage their privileged position as royals for personal gain with the connivance of the institution itself.' The book also details claims of Prince Andrew's infidelity and bedroom antics - from sleeping with scores of women while on ambassador trips to making lewd comments to women he met during everyday life as the late Queen's favourite son. It said the nickname 'Randy Andy' was given to Prince Andrew while he was at Gordonstoun public school. He allegedly earned the name because he was already sexually experienced, good looking and girls were attracted to him. While he has never had trouble picking up women, a family friend said: 'He's not a hunter of women. He rather expects them to come to him. But when they do, he shows himself to be bone idle and not very socially adept at chatting them up.' The Duke of York has long faced criticism for his friendship with Epstein (pictured in 2011), which carried on even after the socialite's imprisonment for sex offences in 2008 One woman he propositioned said: 'He's about as subtle as a hand grenade. His favourite trick is to rub your knee under the table. It's pathetic.' At a wedding he was said to have asked a woman he'd not met before for a dance. When she declined, he responded, 'I suppose a b*** j** is out of the question, then?' Another of his lovers said: 'He is not a Casanova. In the bedroom department he is a bit of a let-down. He has been dumped by most of the girls linked to him because he is a bore.' Andrew is also said to have certain juvenile characteristics, such as taking advantage of his position to humiliate others who may not be able to respond. At a society event in 1992 he reportedly unzipped broadcaster Tania Bryer's evening dress the full length of her back. Then at a dinner party he allegedly sniffed the pâté served as a first course and turned to his right, saying, 'This pâté smells. What do you think?' His female companion leaned forward to smell it and he promptly pushed her face into the dish. One of his dates recalled how he always introduced himself to her friends as the Duke of York, 'even when we were dancing on tables at two in the morning at Momo.' After a house party in Dorset, one young woman complained: 'One minute you're having your bum pinched and the next minute he's reminding you he's Your Royal Highness.' The controversial prince even left an impression on former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Andrew asked to have lunch with Johnson when he was Mayor of London, turning up with a list of things he wanted to talk about. He wanted to redesign traffic lights with 'fewer red lights', thought the whole of Battersea Power Station should be demolished, including the listed towers and felt the Queen Elizabeth II Centre was too small and not fit for purpose. Johnson responded: 'Well, if it's too small, it's your mum's fault.' Andrew reportedly stuck his tongue out. Afterwards, Boris said: 'I'm the last person to be a republican but, f***, if I ever have to spend another lunch like that, I soon will be.' Before her death by suicide in April, Virginia Giuffre said she was approached by Maxwell in 2000 and eventually was hired by her as a masseuse for Epstein, who took his own life in prison aged 66 in 2019. But the couple effectively made her a sexual servant, she said, pressuring her into gratifying not only Epstein but his friends and associates. Donald Trump and his then-girlfriend Melania Knauss with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2000 Giuffre said she was flown around the world for appointments with men including Prince Andrew while she was 17 and 18 years old. The men, including Andrew, denied that and questioned Giuffre's credibility. The prince settled with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, agreeing to make a 'substantial donation' to her survivors' organisation. While Andrew has long been criticised on both sides of the Atlantic, Allred, the attorney for some of Epstein's victims, also said she believes Andrew's name appears in files on Epstein held by the US government that many are asking to be made public. President Trump, who was close friends with Epstein for decades, suggested while campaigning for the last election that he would release the files. His campaign team wrote on X: 'President Trump says he will DECLASSIFY the 9/11 Files, JFK Files, and Epstein Files.' However, since his election he has backtracked. His former pal Elon Musk has criticised the Trump administration for not releasing the files. This year, Trump claimed the files were a 'hoax' and a 'scam' by Democrats who had peddled 'bulls***' to former MAGA supporters. Musk responded on X by saying: 'Wow, amazing that Epstein '' killed himself'' and Ghislaine is in federal prison for a hoax.' Then on July 15, Trump said: 'It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going. 'I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.' He later admitted the US attorney general had not told him the files were a hoax, but said he (Trump) 'knew' it was.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ghislaine Maxwell: could talking about Epstein be her get out of jail free card?
Since Ghislaine Maxwell met with federal prosecutors last week, the imprisoned British socialite's legal team has portrayed her as a beacon of truth willing to discuss all matters related to her child sex-trafficking co-conspirator Jeffrey Epstein's many crimes. 'Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half. She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,' attorney David Oscar Markus told reporters. 'She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question.' Maxwell's highly unusual two-day sit-down with the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche – who served as Donald Trump's criminal defense attorney before working for his justice department – came as the US president tiptoes through a political minefield related to Epstein and his own social links to the disgraced former financier. But Blanche's meeting – held amid rumors and denials of a pardon for Maxwell shortly before her sudden move on Friday to a Texas prison – did not just show Trump's flagging efforts at damage control over the Epstein scandal. Maxwell is simultaneously pursuing several other strategies to be freed from her 20-year federal prison sentence. And, some experts believe, Maxwell's ultimate aim is probably not really revealing the whole truth and everything she knows about Epstein, Trump and other powerful figures. Instead, it is all about earning her freedom. Maxwell's team is pushing the US supreme court to consider her appeal, which contends that she was shielded from prosecution in Epstein's controversial 2007 plea agreement – an argument that has been opposed by the same justice department that has now met with her. Maxwell is also trying to make the most of a congressional subpoena, threatening to invoke her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination unless she is given immunity. Her legal team has also suggested clemency – which Trump could grant immediately. This broad-spectrum approach, which several longtime defense attorneys said represented sound legal strategy, has prompted skepticism about whether any discussions reflect an actual desire to reveal truth. More, Maxwell's track record of alleged lying undermines whatever truths Trump officials claim they want to reveal in highly publicized meetings. 'If I were representing her, I would be doing exactly the same thing. The supreme court petition has virtually no chance of success. The issues raised are not novel or of general relevance to other cases,' said Ron Kuby, a longtime defense attorney whose practice focuses on civil rights. Kuby told the Guardian that the supreme court agrees to take on 'only the smallest fraction' of petitions. 'Filing a supreme court petition is akin to playing the lotto, you can't win unless you play, but your likelihood of winning is slim, so it's a last-ditch effort that defendants use when they have enough money for full due process.' The parallel strategy of actively pursuing clemency with the Trump administration is sound because Trump could commute her sentence or issue a pardon, Kuby said. 'Because these are all federal convictions, he can let her out of jail tomorrow,' he added. As for why Maxwell would seem willing to shed light on Epstein despite a low likelihood of a positive outcome, 'she has nothing to lose. 'The question isn't 'why would she meet with them'? She'll do anything for people who can help with this,' Kuby said. Eric Faddis, a trial attorney and founding partner of the Colorado firm Varner Faddis, voiced similar sentiments about Maxwell's strategy. 'For anyone who's been sentenced to 20 years in prison, it would behoove them to explore all potential avenues to try and better their legal position, and it looks like that's what Maxwell is doing here,' Faddis said. Other legal experts agree. 'Maxwell's attorneys are doing everything they can to keep her out of prison,' said John Day, a former prosecutor in New Mexico who founded the John Day Law Office. The Epstein controversy swirling around Trump may prove an excellent opportunity that few could have foreseen. 'This is a moment in time that wasn't there before, where she suddenly has an opening to try to get a change in her situation,' Day said. 'Up until the Epstein case resurfaced and the Epstein-Trump issues came to the forefront of people's attention, Maxwell was just doing her time. 'Suddenly, she is trying to make the case that she has information, and she has information that's worth trading for, and she's hoping, her lawyers are hoping, that somehow someone is going to decide that it's worth giving her a break.' Should Maxwell receive any favorable outcome, it might do little to promote truth and much to foment uncertainty. 'If there is some kind of a deal that came out of the nine hours that Todd Blanche met with her, then any information that comes out of that is always going to be seen in the context of 'what was the deal?'' Day said. Indeed, Trump's handling of the Epstein files has done little but sow doubt. The Trump justice department released a memo insisting there was no Epstein client list, and decided not to release extensive case files, despite his campaign promise to do so. This backtracking on releasing documents helped fan the flames of controversy that came after the publication of a Wall Street Journal article claiming that Trump contributed a 'bawdy' letter to a birthday present for Epstein – compiled by Maxwell. Shortly after the story ran, Trump announced that he had directed his justice department to request the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in Epstein and Maxwell's criminal cases. This purported push for transparency, vis-a-vis Bondi's request for unsealing, does not appear to have quelled backlash against Trump. The Wall Street Journal on 23 July reported that Bondi told Trump his name appeared in the Epstein files on multiple occasions. Epstein, whom prosecutors stated abused girls as young as 14, had long enjoyed the company of numerous high-profile men in his circle – among them Trump and Britain's Prince Andrew. Epstein killed himself in jail awaiting trial six years ago. Trump's camp has insisted that a pardon is not in the works, with a senior administration official saying: 'No leniency is being given or discussed. That's just false. The president himself has said that clemency for Maxwell is not something he is even thinking about at this time.' But at other times, Trump's comments on the issue have raised eyebrows, with him saying: 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.' He has also remarked: 'Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it' and that 'Right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.' Top congressional Republicans are toeing the line when it comes to the idea of potential presidential relief, including the House speaker, Mike Johnson. 'Well, I mean, obviously that's a decision of the president,' Johnson said on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. 'I won't get in front of him. That's not my lane.' The political benefit for Trump from a pardon – however unlikely – remains nearly nil, as it would do little to support his prior claims about wanting the truth revealed. 'The giant problem here – although what we have seen is that people are capable of believing all kinds of things if Trump says they are true – I don't think there's anything that Ghislaine Maxwell can say that will put any of this to rest,' Kuby said. 'Certainly, the optics of giving an actual convicted child [abuser] clemency does not easily align with the right wing's purported concern about child abuse.'
