Prince Andrew accuser was 'proud' of the role she played in his downfall
Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre was 'incredibly proud of herself' for 'toppling' the senior Royal, her family said.
The mum-of-three, who died in April aged 41, led the fight to bring American billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to justice. Giuffre also claimed she was trafficked to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was just 17. He has always denied the allegations but paid her millions to settle a lawsuit over her claims against him. The settlement did not involve any admission of liability on his behalf, and Andrew denies any sexual contact with her. But the scandal led to him stepping back from royal life after a disastrous BBC interview with Emily Maitlis.
Giuffre's sister-in-law Amanda Roberts said she was proud of the role she played in his downfall. 'When people told her 'no', or people told her they wouldn't believe her, or that she was crazy, she would say 'Watch me',' she said.
Her younger brother Sky told The Times: 'She was never afraid of any of those people.' Giuffre became famous as a victim of Epstein and his lover Ghislaine Maxwell, who she accused of trafficking her to Andrew .
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. Billionaire Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019 before he could face trial.
Giuffre committed suicide at her farm in western Australia in April It was reported yesterday that she wrote in her diary how she was beaten by her husband and kept 'prisoner' in her own home.
Excerpts from the diary and details of a suicide note she left for her teenage children were published by The Times. Her diary, which she kept from the beginning of 2025, detailed her memories of her marriage breaking down. It also includes photos, texts and legal filings alleging Robert Giuffre had been violent and abusive.
The pair separated earlier this year, as Virginia faced legal action for allegedly violating a restraining order by texting her estranged husband who had claimed she was violent. He accused her of headbutting, spitting at and punching him. Police reportedly investigated both incidents, but no charges were brought.
She was estranged from her children, aged 19, 16, and 15, but towards the end of her life she tried to make contact with them. In a final message to them written before her death, she wrote: 'Every day that I don't see your faces has a little less light. The world is dimmer without you in it. I'm here for you here and everywhere.'
Other excerpts from her diary included a text to a pal, in which she claimed Robert beat her while she was holding their baby. She texted: 'Even when I had Emily in my arms as a baby, Rob was coming down off a 3-day bender. He punched me in the face which dropped me to the floor and continuously kicking me in the stomach.'
Two years after the message, martial arts instructor Robert was arrested in Colorado in 2015 for alleged 'domestic violence'. He later pleaded guilty to domestic violence and was placed on probation, according to a court filing. The couple kept the incident private.
Giuffre believed the ramifications of her speaking out against Epstein, Maxwell and Andrew caused her marriage to break down. She wrote in her diary: "The stronger I became, the scarier he became. Instead of praising his wife's accomplishments he began to be jealous, trying to make me stop advocating for victims of trafficking"
Elsewhere in her diary, she claimed in 2017 her husband had been 'emotionally and physically controlling'. She said he banned her going downstairs whenever a man was visiting the house, which she said made her into a 'prisoner'.
Her diary claimed Robert beat her as recently as January after she denied his request for sex. Amanda said: 'Her death was a terrible ending to this story, but there is a big part of it she never got to tell.
'[Virginia] may have fought battles with some of the most powerful men in the world, like Epstein and Prince Andrew, but what people didn't understand was that [in her final days] the hardest battle of her life was at home.'
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