Guiffre family fury as Met drops probe into Andrew 'dig dirt' request

The family of Virginia Giuffre condemned a decision by the Metropolitan Police to drop a probe into revelations by The Mail on Sunday that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked a police bodyguard to dig up information about her.

The Met announced on Saturday that it will not launch a criminal investigation after the MoS exposed how Andrew embroiled both the police and one of Queen Elizabeth's most senior aides in a campaign to smear his teenage sex accuser.

A bombshell email published by the MoS in October showed how Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded personal protection officer – part of the Met's elite SO14 Royalty Protection Group – to investigate Mrs Giuffre and passed him her date of birth and confidential US social security number.

The Met said it was 'actively looking' into the revelations and detectives also began poring over Mrs Giuffre's posthumous memoirs, in which she alleged she was trafficked to London in 2001 by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew.

The former Duke of York has repeatedly and vehemently denied her claims.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ella Marriott yesterday said the force 'will be taking no further action' after conducting an eight-week assessment that 'has not revealed any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct'.

In a hard-hitting response, Mrs Giuffre's family said they were 'deeply disappointed' by the decision and revealed that it came only a day after a Met detective had asked them whether they had any new evidence to provide.

'We are deeply disappointed that the Metropolitan Police have dropped their investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor without explanation and without speaking with us, Virginia's family,' they said in a statement.

'We emailed with a detective from the Metropolitan Police [on] Friday, December 12, who gave us no indication that this announcement was imminent.

'Indeed, he asked us if we had any evidence we would like to present; we had not yet replied.

'With the Epstein files about to be released by Congress since the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, we are surprised that the Metropolitan Police didn't wait to see what further evidence might appear.

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'While we have hailed the UK's overall handling of the case of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor previously, today we feel justice has not been served.'

Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Mrs Giuffre, said: 'The Met has fallen down on the job, yet again. Its failure to investigate and open a criminal inquiry in the face of compelling evidence that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor attempted to silence and smear his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, is a disgrace.

'Survivors of sex abuse and sex-trafficking deserve full protection under the law without fear or favour. With this cowardly decision, the Met has succumbed to the privileged and powerful.'

US lawyer Gloria Allred, who has represented 27 of Epstein's victims, said: 'The statement by the Met Police does not help to promote confidence in law enforcement because it fails to explain if Andrew did or did not ask his protection officer to investigate Virginia Giuffre, and if he did, why that would or would not be a crime.'

Spencer Kuvin, a Florida lawyer who also represents several Epstein victims, added: 'Sadly it appears that yet again the police have failed the victims of Epstein and others.'

The Met said it first received allegations, including one of trafficking to central London, in 2015 and that Mrs Giuffre was interviewed as part of an assessment.

But the force decided not to launch a full criminal investigation in 2016 after officers and prosecutors concluded that other international authorities were best placed to act on the allegations.

That decision was reviewed in August 2019, in 2021 and again in 2022. In each instance, the position remained unchanged.

In October, the MoS revealed how in February 2011 Andrew told Ed Perkins, Queen Elizabeth's deputy press secretary, he had passed Mrs Giuffre's 'DoB and social security number' to a personal protection officer 'for investigation'.

Andrew sent the email to Mr Perkins just hours before this newspaper published the first picture of him with 17-year-old Mrs Giuffre.

Ms Marriott, the Met's Central Specialist Crime Commander, said: 'The Met remains committed to thoroughly assessing any new information that could assist in this matter.

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'To date, we have not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation. In the absence of any further information, we will be taking no further action.'

But Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for north-west England, said: 'The questions don't go away. It's a shame the police don't want to try and answer them.'

Andrew, who was stripped of his remaining titles last month, is under pressure to appear before a US Congress committee investigating Epstein.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee continue to release documents from the so-called Epstein Files.

On Friday new images were published on the same day that Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson made a rare public appearance for the christening of their granddaughter Athena. One photograph showed Andrew with Bill Gates at a public event in 2018.

Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, a Democratic member of the oversight committee, told the MoS: 'Far too many investigations have ended like this— without justice for the victims and rich, powerful people escaping accountability. 

'The former Prince and Epstein were friends, and there are credible accusations against him. Andrew is welcome to come tell us what he knows at any point and clear his name if he hasn't done anything wrong. Our investigation will find the truth, and we will get justice.'