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.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Gangster: The Story of the Black Widow - inside the life of Britain's most notorious female gangster Linda Calvey
The BBC's hit Gangster podcast series returns on Friday 8 August with the explosive true-crime tale of Linda Calvey - a woman whose name is etched into the darkest corners of the British underworld. And for the first time ever, her children speak publicly about the lasting consequences of her life of crime. Hosted by investigative journalist Livvy Haydock, Gangster: The Story of the Black Widow explores the extraordinary life of Linda, who rose through the ranks of London's criminal scene to become one of the UK's most feared female gangsters. Now 76, Linda opens up in candid interviews with Livvy about love, loss, and lethal consequences. Dubbed 'The Black Widow', Linda served time in the infamous H Wing alongside notorious killers Myra Hindley and Rose West. In this six-part series, she revisits the crimes that defined her, the prison years that changed her, and the regrets that still haunt her. This series also includes exclusive interviews with Linda's children, Neil and Mel, speaking publicly for the first time. In a raw and emotionally charged conversation, they reveal what it was really like growing up as the children of armed robbers, and how their childhood was shaped by crime, violence and loss. Neil recalls playing outside aged just three and a half with what turned out to be a real sawn-off shotgun: 'I thought it was just another toy gun, I'd found it behind the sofa. I was outside running around with it when one of the neighbours knocked on the door. My mum just said, 'Oh, he's got loads of guns.' She thought it was a toy, but it wasn't.' Mel, meanwhile, describes a surreal early memory of going on a spending spree to Hamleys, with money she found under Linda's bed. They also open up about the devastating loss of their father Mickey who was shot and killed during a failed robbery, and how they later lost their mother too, when she was later imprisoned for murder. Neil said: 'When my dad got killed and my mum went to prison, it was like falling into a black hole. You just don't know which way to turn.' Mel added: 'I was angry. I'd already lost my dad, then I lost my mum. I told her that. I was about 14, and I asked her, 'Why did you do that to us?' I was bitter for years. It was like drinking a poison that festered in me.' Both siblings reflect on how that trauma shaped their adult lives, from struggles with addiction and mental health to years spent numbing the pain. 'It's like I walked into a party at 14 and didn't leave until I was in my forties,' Mel said. 'I was reckless. For years I was just on another planet.' Despite the pain, there are also moments of reconciliation. Neil adds: 'I might have been angry with the situation, but I never blamed my mum. I'd still choose her. And my dad. It's just a shame how it all went.' Mel agrees: 'I'd still choose them too, but I'd want it to be different. I used to be envious of my friends whose parents had jobs, mortgages, dinner on the table. That's what I wanted. A normal life.' The Gangster podcast series has garnered millions of downloads and widespread critical acclaim for its deep dives into Britain's criminal underworld. This latest six-part series pushes even further, offering a rare female perspective on violence, power and survival in a world dominated by men - and for the first time, lays bare the personal cost of crime on the children left behind. Livvy Haydock said: 'Linda Calvey's story is one of the most extraordinary I've ever come across. This podcast isn't about glamourising crime, it's about asking how someone becomes 'The Black Widow' and what that says about class, gender, and justice in Britain." Listen to Gangster: The Black Widow on BBC Sounds from Friday 8 August AG / MCL Follow for more
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
American man bitten by shark as he dangled leg from boat in Bahamas
An American man was injured during a shark attack in the Bahamas, according to local police. According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the attack occurred near Manjack Cay in the Abacos Islands in the northern Bahamas. The region is known locally as Nunjack Cay, according to USA TODAY. The man was reportedly boating with his friends "with his leg hanging in the water" when the shark bit him, a police report states. The attack occurred just after 2pm on Monday. The victim was transported to a local clinic where he was treated for his injuries and was later released. Police did not release the man's name or age in their report. It was also not specific as to what kind of shark attacked the man. Another man trying to enjoy the beach had his own shark encounter over the Fourth of July weekend. A 21-year-old man was fishing off a Nantucket beach when he caught a shark on his line, according to the Nantucket Current. He reeled the animal onto shore and tried to return it to the ocean, but the shark thrashed and bit him on his leg, causing him a serious injury. The victim's friends drove him to a local hospital, where he was later flown by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland to further treatment. On the same day, a 40-year-old surfer in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, received a 10-inch bite from a shark that left him seriously injured. He ultimately survived the attack, Fox News reports. New Smyrna Beach is known as the "shark bite capital" of the U.S. due to the high number of shark encounters in the area. Shark attacks, while frightening, are still very rare events. According to the International Shark Attack File, 47 people were bitten in unprovoked shark attacks last year, and four people were killed, including one American. According to the ISAF, there are, on average, approximately 65 reported shark attacks every year. On average, there are six fatal attacks every year.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Iran drives out 1.5 million Afghans, with some branded spies for Israel
Ali Ahmad's eyes fill with tears as he lifts his shirt to show deep bruises across his he was detained, Iranian officers struck him and accused him of spying, he says. "They used hoses, water pipes and wooden boards to beat me. They treated us like animals."He was speaking to the BBC earlier this month at Islam Qala on the two countries' border, before crossing back over to Afghanistan. His name has been changed to protect his - which says it hosts more than four million undocumented Afghans who fled conflict in their homeland - has been stepping up deportations for months. In March those without papers were given a July deadline to depart voluntarily, but since a brief war with Israel in June, the authorities have forcibly returned hundreds of thousands of Afghans, alleging national security returns peaked at about 50,000 people in early July, according to the United Nations – often after arduous Ahmad says Iranian officials confiscated his money and phone and left him without "a single penny to travel back". He'd lived in Iran for two and a half years. 'Scapegoats' Iran's crackdown has coincided with widespread accusations linking Afghans to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, including Iranian media reports that cite police sources claiming some individuals were arrested for espionage."We're afraid to go anywhere, constantly worried that we might be labelled as spies," one person, who wished to remain anonymous, told BBC News Afghan."You Afghans are spies", "You work for Israel" or "You build drones in your homes", are other frequent accusations, according to this Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan who served as senior adviser to the US Department of State, says Tehran may be "looking for scapegoats" for its shortcomings in the war against Israel."The Iranian government is very embarrassed by their security failures", which show Iran "was very thoroughly penetrated by Israeli intelligence", he says."So they had to find someone to blame."Critics also say the accusations of espionage are aimed at buying legitimacy for the government's plan to deport undocumented BBC attempted to contact the Iranian government but did not receive a response. The return of Afghan refugees "without tension and with respect for human rights… is a goal pursued at all levels", the state-backed Islamic Republic News Agency said on 18 July. 'Four days, like four years' Abdullah Rezaee, whose name has also been changed, has a similar story to Ali the detention centre where he was held, about 15 Iranian officers physically harmed him and other deportees, Abdullah told the BBC at Islam Qala."Iranian police tore up my visa and passport and beat me severely. They accused me of being a spy." Abdullah says he'd only been in Iran two months before being detained, despite having a visa."They beat us with plastic batons and said: 'You're a spy, you're ruining our country'."The four days he was detained "felt like four years". He describes constant mistreatment, physical abuse and lack of online allegations of collaboration between Afghans and Israeli secret services started early in the 13 June, the day Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military facilities, the government issued statements to the population, asking citizens to report suspicious activities such as unusual movements of vans, which might be transporting Israeli operatives' Telegram channels with large followings posted warning messages using similar wording to the government's. But they added that the population should be vigilant of "alien citizens" – an expression mostly used to describe Afghans in Iran – driving vans in big following day, a series of detentions of people allegedly connected to the Israeli attacks, including some Afghans, were 16 June, news channels broadcast a video of Afghans being detained claiming that they had been carrying drones with them. It went viral. But the video was old, and portrayed migrants detained due to their undocumented 18 June, a Telegram group attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posted that 18 Afghans had been arrested in the city of Mashhad for building drones for Israel, according to the independent monitoring group Afghan following day, the provincial deputy security chief was quoted saying the arrest had "no connection to drone-making" or co-operation with Israel. "They were arrested solely for being in Iran illegally."But posts connecting the arrests to espionage had spread widely on social media platforms. A hashtag saying the "expulsion of Afghans is a national demand" was shared more than 200,000 times on X in the space of a month, peaking at more than 20,000 mentions on 2 sentiment on Iranian social media is not new, but the difference this time is "the misinformation is not just coming from social media users but from Iranian-affiliated media", according to an independent researcher at Afghan Witness. From 'serial killers' to 'spies' More than 1.5 million Afghans have left Iran since January, according to the UN Refugee Agency. A spokesperson from the Taliban's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told the BBC that more than 918,000 Afghans entered Afghanistan from Iran between 22 June - 22 had been in Iran for of Afghans have fled to Iran and Pakistan since the 1970s, with major waves during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and more recently in 2021, when the Taliban returned to warn Afghanistan lacks the capacity to absorb the growing number of nationals forcibly returned to a country under Taliban rule. The country is already struggling with a large influx of returnees from Pakistan, which is also forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to first, Afghans were welcomed in Iran, says Dr Khadija Abbasi, who specialises in forced displacement at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. But anti-Afghan sentiment increased gradually, with state media portraying Afghan refugees as an "economic burden" to society, she narratives about Afghan migrants in Iran followed suit. In the 1990s, a series of rapes and murders in Tehran was widely assumed, without evidence, to be the work of an Afghan, which led to a rise in hate crimes. It was later revealed that the killer was an estimated two million Afghans migrated to Iran in the post-2021 wave, exaggerated posts on social media claimed more than 10 million Afghans were living in the country. Iran had been the only neighbour to allow refugees and migrants to enter at scale during that of Afghans from Iran, says Dr Abbasi, "might be one of the very rare topics that most Iranians" are in agreement with the government – although in July more than 1,300 Iranian and Afghan activists signed an open letter calling for an end to "inhumane" treatment of Afghan citizens in anti-Afghan sentiment is widespread. "It has become very dangerous," she says, "so people will just try to stay at home."For huge numbers that is no longer an option. The border continues to swell with Abdullah the deportation has destroyed his plans."I lost everything," he Babrak Ehsas, Yasin Rasouli, Rowan Ings, and Sucheera Maguire, with additional reporting by Soroush Pakzad
