Virginia Giuffre's suicide draws line under Prince Andrew's hopes of redemption
The association with the Epstein scandal had tainted Prince Andrew's life since at least 2010, when he was photographed walking with Epstein in Central Park, New York, even after the latter's release from prison for pleading guilty to prostituting minors.
In 2015, specific accusations relating to Prince Andrew emerged in court documents, with a grim legal back-and-forth lasting years, amid growing calls for him to be interviewed by police and in open court.
The last-ditch settlement, said to have been encouraged by Queen Elizabeth II and advisers who did not want the spectacle of a prince giving evidence – or lack of it – under oath, brought both relief and frustration.
'We hail Virginia's victory today,' Lisa Bloom, an attorney representing eight victims of Epstein, said at the time. 'She has accomplished what no one else could: getting Prince Andrew to stop his nonsense and side with sexual abuse victims.'
He did, indeed, fall quiet.
At Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew retired, for a while, to a life without purpose: seen only out riding, visiting his elderly mother while she was still alive, and spending time with his former wife, daughters and grandchildren.
In the early 2020s, after the Newsnight interview, there were hopes from his few remaining allies that he would somehow make a return to public life.
Some held out hope that Ms Guiffre would eventually be discredited in her lifetime, and her account dismissed with time.
In the model of Profumo, it was thought, there was a world in which he could knuckle down to quiet charity work, rebuild a reputation, and reappear.
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It has not come to pass. The Duke has instead become embroiled in further scandal, not least the recent damaging links to an alleged Chinese spy.
He is now seen with the Royal family in public only at events deemed 'family occasions': Sandringham at Christmas, Windsor at Easter.
Last weekend, he appeared eager to keep away from the public and media, ducking inside St George's Chapel for an Easter Matins service before the rest of his family, and striding off quickly afterwards.
His brother the King has lost patience with his dogged determination to stay at Royal Lodge, cutting off his formerly extensive funding. The Prince of Wales, the future King, will not countenance a return to duty for his uncle in his reign.
The death of Giuffre will weigh heavily on all involved in this most shameful of episodes: much wider and more serious than unproven accusations against one prince, but linked to him for life nonetheless.
'In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight,' her family said on Saturday.
The Duke, 65, has not commented on the news and is unlikely to do so.
The death of Virginia Giuffre draws the most tragic of lines under a period of his life he hoped would end in redemption, and now will not.
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The Telegraph, London
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China is unnerving Russia in Central Asia and the Arctic The concerns about China expanding its reach are not limited to Russia's Far East borderlands. Central Asian countries answered to Moscow during the Soviet era. Today, the FSB reports, Beijing has developed a 'new strategy' to promote Chinese soft power in the region. China began rolling out that strategy in Uzbekistan, according to the document. The details of the strategy are not included in the document other than to say it involves humanitarian exchange. Uzbekistan and neighbouring countries are important to Putin, who sees restoring the Soviet sphere of influence as part of his legacy. The report also highlights China's interest in Russia's vast territory in the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, which hugs Russia's northern coast. Historically, those waters have been too icy for reliable shipping, but they are expected to become increasingly busy because of climate change. The route slashes shipping time between Asia and Europe. Developing that route would make it easier for China to sell its goods. Russia historically tried to maintain strict control over Chinese activity in the Arctic. But Beijing believes that Western sanctions will force Russia to turn to China to maintain its 'ageing Arctic infrastructure,' according to the FSB document. Already, Russian gas giant Novatek has relied on China to salvage its Arctic liquefied natural gas project, after previously using the American oil services firm Baker Hughes. Loading The FSB asserts that Chinese spies are active in the Arctic as well. The report says Chinese intelligence is trying to obtain information about Russia's development of the Arctic, using institutions of higher education and mining companies in particular. But despite all of these vulnerabilities, the FSB report makes clear that jeopardising the support of China would be worse. The document squarely warns officers that they must receive approval from the highest echelons of the Russian security establishment before taking any sensitive action at all.
