Authorities are investigating after reports surfaced that Prince Andrew asked a police protection officer to dig up information about the late Virginia Giuffre from leaked emails.
The Mail on Sunday said the royal family told the deputy press secretary for her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2011 that it had given Giuffre’s US social security number and date of birth to police officers to check for possible criminal history.
The newspaper said he sent the email shortly before a photo of himself with his arm around Giuffre’s waist was published in 2001 when she was 17 years old. Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was also in the photo.
It is unclear whether the officers complied with Andrew’s request.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described the communication as “deeply worrying” and assured that the allegations would be investigated.
Meanwhile, Giuffre’s family commented on the allegations, referring to the sexual assault allegations against Andrew, telling the outlet that the email “reveals the lengths to which those involved sought to discredit and defame the survivor.”
The family added, “The truth will be revealed and there will be no shadow to hide behind.”
A representative for Buckingham Palace could not be reached for comment to Page Six.
Giuffre committed suicide in April 2025 at the age of 41 after years of accusing Andrew, 65, of sexual assault, alleging that he was involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring and raping the minor.
She filed a formal lawsuit against the former Duke of York in 2021, which was settled out of court in 2022 for an estimated $12 million.
At the time, Andrew denied the charges, but Queen Elizabeth stripped him of his military honors as a result.
But Andrew’s past email correspondence was leaked just days after he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were stripped of their royal titles due to “sustained accusations” of having an affair with Epstein.
“I have decided, as always, to put my duty to my family and country first,” he said in a statement Friday.
Mr Andrew continued to deny the allegations against him, but said the decision had been taken in consultation with his brother King Charles III and his “immediate family and wider family”.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
