A source from Buckingham Palace has urged a thorough investigation into claims that Prince Andrew sought dirt on Virginia Giuffre through a Met Police officer. The source emphasized the need for these allegations to be “examined in the proper and fullest ways.”

Calls for an inquiry have intensified following a report by this newspaper. It revealed that Andrew allegedly requested his taxpayer-funded Met bodyguard to dig into Ms. Giuffre’s background, providing the officer with her date of birth and confidential social security number.

The palace insider described the allegations, which Andrew denies, as “very serious and of grave concern,” stressing the importance of a comprehensive examination.

The source further commented on the necessity of addressing “what lies at the heart of this, the broader allegations, and the issues highlighted,” suggesting that further action is warranted.

The Metropolitan Police are “actively looking into the claims made.” Dai Davies, the former head of Royal Protection, cautioned that even if the officer did not follow through on Andrew’s request, the email could still be considered a criminal offense.

He urged the force to question the royal under caution if there was evidence that he abetted a police officer to commit a criminal offence of misconduct in public office. There is no suggestion that the officer complied with the prince’s request.

Royal experts have told the Daily Mail how the next few days could be ‘toxic’ for Andrew and risks overshadowing King Charles’s royal engagements, including his state visit to the Vatican with Queen Camilla on Wednesday. 

The Prince is already bracing himself for another series of humiliating blows as Ms Giuffre’s biography from beyond the grave is set to be published on Tuesday, while her ghost writer Amy Wallace will appear on Newsnight tonight. 

Virginia Giuffre photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London in 2001

Andrew (above) wanted Met officers to find damaging information in an apparent campaign to smear his teenage sex accuser, this newspaper revealed

Princess Beatrice was today spotted visiting her parents who are holed up in their grace-and-favour Royal Lodge. 

She was seen driving through the gates of their grand home this afternoon as the storm surrounding her parents rages and the Yorks went to ground. 

After paying them a visit, their eldest daughter looked serious as her luxury Range Rover swept away from the 30-room mansion in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

It comes after the sisters reportedly pulled out of ‘London’s Met Gala’ on Saturday night after their disgraced father lost his royal titles amid increased scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein.

The Pink Ball is the first in a series of events hosted by the British Museum, with this year’s theme chosen to pay homage to an ongoing exhibition called Ancient India: Living Traditions. 

Philanthropist Isha Ambani, the daughter of India’s richest man, supermodel Naomi Campbell and actor James Norton led a star-studded guest list at the high society function, which aims to rival New York’s prestigious Met Gala.

Beatrice and her younger sister did not show up despite both being invited, HELLO! has reported. It has not been confirmed why the pair did not attend the ball. 

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, TV star Maya Jama and Lady Kitty Spencer – the eldest daughter of Charles Spencer and the niece of the late Princess Diana – were also in attendance.

More than 800 guests attended the fundraising event – many of whom paid up to £2,000 a ticket to rub shoulders with the rich and famous.

Princess Beatrice drives from Royal Lodge, home of her father Prince Andrew and mother Sarah Ferguson, at Windsor in Berkshire today

 Beatrice is the first from her immediate family to break cover after her father was stripped of his dukedom and titles

The Mail on Sunday revealed that Andrew told Ed Perkins, Queen Elizabeth’s deputy press secretary, that he had asked one of his personal protection officers – part of the Met’s elite SO14 Royalty Protection Group – to dig up information about Ms Giuffre.

He emailed Mr Perkins hours before this newspaper first published the infamous picture of the duke with 17-year-old Ms Giuffre, which would ultimately bring about his downfall.

‘It would also seem she has a criminal record in the [United] States,’ he wrote. ‘I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with XXX, the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].’

It is not suggested that the officer complied with the prince’s request, while Ms Giuffre’s family said she did not have a criminal record.

Her relatives said our revelations ‘expose the lengths to which those implicated try to discredit and defame survivors. The truth will surface and there will be no shadows in which they can hide’.

A spokesperson for the Met told the MoS late on Saturday that they were ‘actively looking into the claims made.’

The MoS also revealed how Epstein introduced Andrew to a second woman who had been sexually abused by the paedophile financier for years and how he bankrolled Sarah Ferguson for 15 years.

In the previously unseen emails, Epstein also revealed Fergie was so desperate to cosy up to him that ‘she was the first to celebrate’ his release from jail ‘with her two daughters in tow’. Princess Beatrice would have been 20 at the time and Eugenie 19, the same age as many of his victims.

It is understood that the King (right), who is believed to have spoken to his brother by phone from Scotland about the issue, feels ‘glad’ that Andrew (left) has relinquished his royal titles

Ms Giuffre’s brother (left) called for the King to go further and strip Andrew of his right to be a prince

After another week of scandal, Andrew announced he would no longer be known as the Duke of York and was stepping down from membership of the Order of the Garter – the country’s most ancient order of chivalry 

His ex-wife, Sarah, with whom he will continue to live at the Royal Lodge at Windsor, will no longer be known as the Duchess of York. However, Beatrice and Eugenie will continue to keep their titles due to being princesses at birth.

Similarly, Andrew will remain a prince as he was born the son of Queen Elizabeth II, although there is increasing pressure for this title to be removed too.

There was a sense of relief at Buckingham Palace following the announcement on Friday, however there have been calls from Ms Giuffre’s family for the King to go further and strip Andrew of his right to be a prince. 

Charles is said to have acted, in consultation with William, Andrew and the royal family, on Friday, after it emerged Andrew had emailed Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 saying ‘we’re in this together’, three months after he claimed he had broken all contact with him.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the Government would be guided by the royal family on any formal action to remove Andrew’s titles.

He said: ‘I think it’s really important as a Government minister, that we allow the royal family to make decisions on these questions.’

He also described the claims that Andrew wanted his bodyguard to smear Ms Giuffre as ‘deeply concerning allegations’.

In 2022, the then-Duke of York paid millions to accuser Ms Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault case, despite claiming never to have met her.

In Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs, she wrote that Andrew insisted she sign a one-year gag order after their settlement, to prevent tarnishing the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

King Charles and Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis during a visit to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Monday 

The BBC, which obtained a copy of the book, said that Ms Giuffre also says she ‘was habitually used and humiliated’ after being trafficked to ‘scores of wealthy, powerful people’, and she added: ‘I believed that I might die a sex slave.’

She also described how Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview was like an ‘injection of jet fuel’ for her legal team, and it raised the possibility of ‘subpoenaing’ his former wife Sarah, and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, and drawing them into the legal case.

Ms Giuffre said she got ‘more out of’ Andrew than a reported $12million payout and $2million donation to her charity, because she had ‘an acknowledgement that I and many other women had been victimised and a tacit pledge to never deny it again’.

The prince’s 2019 Newsnight interview, which he hoped would clear his name, backfired when he said he ‘did not regret’ his friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.

He was heavily criticised for failing to show sympathy with the sex offender’s victims.

Andrew also said he had ‘no recollection’ of ever meeting Ms Giuffre, and said he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with Beatrice on the day in question.

Ms Giuffre alleged, which Andrew vehemently denies, that she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.