The family of Virginia Giuffre has made an emotional plea for King Charles to meet them during his upcoming US tour. Sky Roberts, Ms Giuffre's brother, stated that a meeting would demonstrate the monarch's solidarity with survivors of sex trafficking and those affected by convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
King Charles and Queen Camilla's US Visit
King Charles and Queen Camilla are scheduled to arrive in the United States on Monday for a four-day visit, during which they will meet President Donald Trump. The royal couple will also attend a White House banquet, and the King has been invited to address a joint session of the US Congress.
The Giuffre family sees this as a crucial opportunity for a brief 10-minute meeting. Speaking on Newsnight, Mr Roberts emphasised: "We need the King of England to stand up and show his unity with survivors. We will be 10 minutes from him. We will be lobbying that same day in the same buildings that he will be entering in and out of. And all we ask is for a 10-minute meeting with the King to show him that we're real people, with real feelings."
Systematic Failures Exposed
On Friday, a BBC investigation revealed that Epstein continued to house women in London flats for years after the Metropolitan Police decided not to investigate Ms Giuffre's original allegation in 2015. At that time, she reported being trafficked to the UK by Epstein in the early 2000s.
Mr Roberts criticised law enforcement failures: "This has been systematic failure from not only the FBI, but the Metropolitan Police there in the UK. I mean if they would have listened to Virginia and took her claim seriously the first time, it could have avoided so many other years of abuse that had occurred right under the noses of these officers."
Call for Public Inquiry
The Giuffre family has also pledged to support Lisa Phillips, another Epstein survivor, in demanding a public inquiry into allegations made by women in the UK against the financier. Amanda Roberts, Ms Giuffre's sister-in-law, stated: "We would 100% call for an inquiry. Clearly, there is more things to be investigated and there's more evidence sitting there, especially if it was just discovered that, you know, he (Epstein) had been having flats years after the first reports came forward."
Earlier this week, controversy erupted in Congress following reports that some Republican members of an influential committee investigating Epstein were open to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, being granted clemency in return for her testimony.
