Sarah’s grim reality: Is ‘time up’ for Andrew?
With his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, suing the Duke of York, Prince Andrew’s loyal ex, Sarah Ferguson, may be afraid how this will end…
She recently described them as ‘the happiest divorced couple in the world’, and there is no doubt that Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew remain incredibly close despite separating over two decades ago. They even continue to live together, at the Royal Lodge, Windsor, (although Sarah describes herself as a ‘guest’) and they are devoted to their daughters, Beatrice, 33 and Eugenie, 31.
But, of course, over the past two years, there has been a dramatic decline in Prince Andrew’s fortunes, as he has become increasingly mired in the scandal surrounding paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell two years ago.
Questions have been asked about why Andrew, who is staying at Balmoral with the Queen, with Sarah by his side, continued to associate with Epstein after he was convicted of sex offences, but the most serious allegation of all has been that Andrew himself had sexual relations with a girl, who was then aged just 17 and kept as a sex slave.
And now, with the news that his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 38, has taken up a civil suit against the Prince, brought under New York state’s Child Victims act, the situation is more serious than ever.
Giuffre, now a married mum-of-three, alleges she was forced to have sex with the Prince on three separate occasions in 2001 when she was just 17 years old.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court, it says, ‘Prince Andrew’s sexual abuse of a child who he knew was a sex-trafficking victim, and when he was approximately 40 years old, goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilized community.’
In an emotional statement given to a TV station, Virginia RobertsGiuffre, said, ‘I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me.
‘The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions.
‘I did not come to this decision lightly. As a mother and a wife, my family comes first. I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates.
‘But I knew that if I did not pursue this action, I would be letting them, and victims everywhere, down.’
The filing mentions that Andrew has failed to cooperate with the criminal investigation by the FBI into Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, herself awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, despite promising to do so in his disastrous Newsnight interview.
Twenty years ago, Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her.
‘It is long past the time for him to be held to account,’ the documents say.
It echoes the sentiment expressed by Roberts- Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, who, before the suit was filed, warned ‘time’s up’ for the Duke.
Whatever the outcome, and whether or not Prince Andrew actually appears in court, he is once again the subject of global attention of the most sordid kind.
Sarah, 61, is his staunchest defender. When asked if she was convinced that he was unaware of the extent of Epstein’s depravity, in a recent interview, she said, ‘No question. I know everything about him.’
In a previous television interview, she said, ‘Prince Andrew is just such a good man.
He’s a very gentle man, he’s a really good father and we did co-parent very well, hence the reason our girls are solid and have their feet on the ground.’
She also declared she was ‘one hundred per cent certain’ that her ex-husband was being honest when he denied seeing anything untoward during the time he spent with Epstein.
‘I want him [Andrew] to come through this. I want him to win,’ she declared.
But certainly, the court action will be a further blow for Andrew, 61, whose life has been turned around by the scandal, having stood down from Royal duties, and no longer associated with 47 charities.
Andrew has always denied all the charges made by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, saying, ‘I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.’
Buckingham Palace previously issued a statement saying, ‘It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts [Giuffre]. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.’
But there is no doubt that Andrew is back in the spotlight, and for Sarah and her daughters Eugenie, who is a new mum to baby August Philip with husband Jack Brooksbank, and Beatrice, whose first child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is due in the Autumn, the strain must be immeasurable.