Virginia Giuffre Files Lawsuit Accusing Prince Andrew of Rape

Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, has filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew saying that he raped her when she was 17 and committed other forms of sexual abuse, according to court documents.

Ms. Giuffre had previously said in legal filings that Mr. Epstein, the financier who was accused of sexually exploiting dozens of women and girls and who hanged himself in 2019, offered sex with her to Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, for sex multiple times when she was 17.

In her lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, she repeated those accusations, saying that the prince committed acts of sexual assault and battery, causing severe and lasting damage. She is asking for damages to be determined by the court.

Prince Andrew, 61, also known as the Duke of York, has denied Ms. Giuffre’s accusations, and said that he has “no recollection” of having met her. After giving a disastrous television interview about his relationship with Mr. Epstein, the prince announced in 2019 that he would withdraw from public life.

Lawyers for the prince did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last January, the United States attorney in Manhattan said that Prince Andrew had yet to cooperate with a federal investigation into allegations of sex trafficking by Mr. Epstein and his associates, contradicting his pledge to do so. The prince is a friend of Ghislaine Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s former girlfriend, who in March was charged with sex trafficking of a minor.

The prince’s lawyers responded then saying that he had offered his assistance “on at least three occasions.”

Asked on Monday whether there had been any change in the prince’s posture with regard to cooperating with the federal investigation into Mr. Epstein and his associates, Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the United States attorney in Manhattan, declined to comment.

Ms. Giuffre’s lawsuit accuses Prince Andrew of raping her at Ms. Maxwell’s home in London, saying that Prince Andrew, Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell had forced her to have intercourse with the prince against her will.

The filing includes a picture of the prince with his arm around Ms. Giuffre’s waist and Ms. Maxwell smiling in the background, and says that the picture was taken at Ms. Maxwell’s home.

Ms. Maxwell, who was arrested last year, is awaiting a federal trial in Manhattan.