Royals face further embarrassment as Virginia Giuffre’s memoir to go on sale

Prince Andrew and the royal family could face further embarrassment, with the imminent publication of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir in the week that the King is to pray with the Pope.

The Metropolitan Police said they would look into claims in the Mail on Sunday that Andrew had passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.

He is also said to have emailed the late Queen Elizabeth II’s then-deputy press secretary and told him of his request to his protection officer, and also suggested Ms Giuffre had a criminal record.

A Met spokeswoman said: “We are aware of media reporting and are actively looking into the claims made.”

The allegations are the latest to emerge against the prince, who relinquished his dukedom and other honours on Friday, after excerpts from the posthumous autobiography of Ms Giuffre were released.

The book is to be published on Tuesday, a day before Charles begins a state visit to the Holy See, during which he will become the first British monarch to pray at a public service with the Pope since the Reformation.

Charles, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church, will pray together during an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel, a symbolic moment of the continuing dialogue between their two churches.

The two-day visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, is understood to be deeply significant for the King personally and will celebrate the papal jubilee held every 25 years.

A report in The Sunday Times suggested that the Prince of Wales was “not satisfied” with the decision concerning Andrew’s titles.

The newspaper suggested William intended to take a “more ruthless” approach to his disgraced uncle, and would ban him from his future coronation.

It is understood, however, that the King and William are in lockstep over how to deal with the former duke.

Andrew, still a prince and living in the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge mansion, issued a statement in his own words on Friday in which he said he was giving up his Duke of York title and honours, to prevent distracting from the work of the monarch and the royal family.

Ms Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, has urged the King to go further and strip Andrew of his right to be a prince.

Charles is said to have acted, in consultation with William, Andrew and the royal family, on Friday, after it emerged Andrew had emailed Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 saying “we’re in this together”, three months after he claimed he had broken all contact with him.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the Government would be guided by the royal family on any formal action to remove Andrew’s titles.

He said: “I think it’s really important as a Government minister, that we allow the royal family to make decisions on these questions.”

He also described the claims that Andrew wanted his bodyguard to smear Ms Giuffre as “deeply concerning allegations”.

In 2022, the then-Duke of York paid millions to accuser Ms Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault case, despite claiming never to have met her.

In Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs, she wrote that Andrew insisted she sign a one-year gag order after their settlement, to prevent tarnishing the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The BBC, which obtained a copy of the book, said that Ms Giuffre also says she “was habitually used and humiliated” after being trafficked to “scores of wealthy, powerful people”, and she added: “I believed that I might die a sex slave.”

She also described how Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview was like an “injection of jet fuel” for her legal team, and it raised the possibility of “subpoenaing” his former wife Sarah, and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, and drawing them into the legal case, The Telegraph reported.

Ms Giuffre said she got “more out of” Andrew than a reported 12 million US dollar pay-out and two million dollar donation to her charity, because she had “an acknowledgement that I and many other women had been victimised and a tacit pledge to never deny it again”.

The prince’s 2019 Newsnight interview, which he hoped would clear his name, backfired when he said he “did not regret” his friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.

He was heavily criticised for failing to show sympathy with the sex offender’s victims.

Andrew also said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre, and said he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with Beatrice on the day in question.

Ms Giuffre alleged, which Andrew vehemently denies, that she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.