Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are conducting a detailed examination of the posthumously published memoirs of Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse. This forms a key part of what the force describes as a 'scoping exercise' into revelations concerning the Duke of York's connections to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Email and the Memoirs
This development follows a bombshell report by The Mail on Sunday last month, which revealed an email in which Prince Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded Met Police bodyguard to investigate Ms Giuffre. The email contained her date of birth and confidential social security number. The Met confirmed at the time that it was 'actively looking into the claims'.
Shortly after this revelation, the memoirs of Ms Giuffre, titled Nobody's Girl, were published. The author, who took her own life in April 2025 at the age of 41, wrote accusingly of the prince, stating he was 'entitled, as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright'. Her book describes in detail three separate occasions on which she alleges Prince Andrew had sex with her, accusations he has repeatedly and vehemently denied.
Content of the Posthumous Account
In her powerful memoir, Ms Giuffre recounted first meeting Andrew when she was 17 years old, dressing in outfits inspired by pop icons Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. She described the now-infamous photograph taken in March 2001 at Ghislaine Maxwell's London flat, for which she wore a 'pink V-necked, sleeveless mini T-shirt and a sparkly, multicolored pair of jeans' with the Duke's arm around her waist.
Ms Giuffre also made a connection to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, stating it left her fearful amid unproven claims of royal family involvement. She alleged she had sex with Andrew four years after Diana's death to appease 'powerful' people while she was in the UK. Her claims include being forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions, once when she was 17 and during an orgy, after being trafficked by Epstein, who died in a US prison in 2019.
Despite his denials, Prince Andrew previously paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault case in 2022. Ms Giuffre wrote of her frustration that he hid behind 'the well-guarded gates' of Balmoral Castle, making it difficult for her lawyers to serve him with legal papers. She expressed that the settlement fell short of the meaningful apology she sought, noting, 'We would never get a confession, of course. That's what settlements are designed to avoid.'
Ongoing Police Investigation and Future Steps
Sources confirm that police officers are not only probing the email Prince Andrew sent about his accuser but are also scrutinising Nobody's Girl for any potential new leads. It is understood that detectives have not yet spoken to Prince Andrew as part of this exercise.
However, the Metropolitan Police is expected to announce before Christmas whether this scoping exercise will escalate into a full, formal investigation. The late Ms Giuffre, in an email to her co-writer sent shortly before her death following a car crash, expressed her 'heartfelt wish that this work be published, regardless of my circumstances'. She believed the book was crucial to 'shed light on the systemic failures that allow the trafficking of vulnerable individuals across borders'.
Prince Andrew, formerly the Duke of York, has been stripped of all his royal titles and military affiliations in the wake of the scandal.
