‘A story of abuse’ Virginia Giuffre discusses Prince Andrew allegations in first TV interview

The details within this article may prove upsetting for some readers.

The Prince and The Epstein Scandal, a BBC Panorama special aired tonight.

It featured an interview with Virginia Giuffre who says that at 17-years-old, she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and was forced to have sex with the Duke of York. Married mum of three Virginia Giuffre, formerly Virginia Roberts, recalled meeting Prince Andrew in a London nightclub and afterwards, she was told that she would have "to do for Andrew what I do for Jeffrey". In tonight's interview, she said that she was disgusted by the situation but felt she had to keep Prince Andrew happy as "that's what Jeffrey and Ghislaine (Maxwell) would have expected from me." Giuffre said that she later had sex with Prince Andrew at a Belgrave apartment, the residence of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend. She later met him on two other occasions, both at Epstein's residences. Two of the three meetings reportedly happened when she was under 18. Virgina, one of Epstein's accusers, said that she didn't expect this behaviour from Prince Andrew.

"I didn't expect it from royalty, from someone people look up to and admire - the royal family".

Making a heartfelt plea, Ms Giuffre asked the people of the UK to "stand up beside her, to help her fight this fight and to not accept this as being ok". Continuing, she said:

"This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked. This is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guys', of your guys' royalty".

"I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me.”

Virginia Giuffre says she was trafficked as a teenager and asks the British public to not accept this "as being OK.” The Duke of York emphatically denies any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Giuffre. pic.twitter.com/vnOSI9Znu0 — Panorama ? (@BBCPanorama) December 2, 2019

In response to tonight's Panorama interview, Buckingham Palace released a statement to BBC saying that Prince Andrew "unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein" and "deeply sympathises with those affected who want some form of closure." Prince Andrew denies these allegations.

"It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation".

In an interview with Newsnight recently, Prince Andrew said that he had no recollection of ever meeting Virginia but the backlash to his remarks was so strong that he has stepped away from all royal duties. Tonight's interview took place before the Newsnight programme was broadcast.