The family of one of the most prominent survivors Sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein welcomed Prince Andrew's announcement that he will stop using his royal titles, including Duke of York.
“Prince Andrew’s decision to renounce his titles is a vindication for our sister and survivors around the world,” Prince Andrew’s family said. Virginia Roberts Giuffrewho committed suicide in April at the age of 41, the statement said.
The flow of stories about Prince Andrew's connection with Epstein has younger brother of the stubborn King Charles III for six years, and the scandal became one of the most destructive in recent British royal history.
Giuffre alleged that Epstein sold her to his powerful friends, including Andrew, whom she filed a lawsuit against in 2021, alleging that Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17 years old.
Andrew, who denies having sex with Giuffre and any wrongdoing related to Epstein, stepped back from active royal duties in 2019 as controversy surrounding his association with Epstein grew. He agreed to settle the lawsuit with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount in 2022 without admitting guilt.
Friday's announcement came after the Mail on Sunday and Sun on Sunday newspapers published an email, not verified by NBC News, that was reportedly sent to Andrew Epstein in 2011, after a photograph was published showing Andrew hugging Giuffre while accompanied by Ghislaine Maxwell.
The palace did not comment on the email, which newspapers said told Epstein “we're in this together” and concluded “play some more soon.”
The email was particularly damaging because it contradicted his previous comments in a 2019 BBC interview, in which he said he had stopped communicating with Epstein after visiting him in New York in 2010, a year earlier.
“This was really the final nail in Andrew's coffin because in black and white he looks like a liar,” said NBC News royal commentator Daisy McAndrew.
“Now he’s persona non grata,” McAndrew said. “He will not be welcome at any royal events and will have to keep an even more low profile than he has done so far.”
Andrew did not respond to requests for comment via email, but has previously repeatedly denied that the photo of him with Giuffre is real.
In a statement, the Guiffre family called on King Charles to be “stripped of the title of Prince.”
McAndrew said stripping Andrew of his princely title would require legal changes that were “highly unlikely.”
Andrew's decision to stop using his titles came “following discussions with the King as well as my immediate family,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“As I have said previously, I strongly deny the allegations made against me,” Andrew said.
