In a significant development, Virginia Giuffre’s family has spoken out following the decision to strip Prince Andrew of his remaining royal title and his eviction from the Royal Lodge.

Virginia Giuffre, who tragically passed away earlier this year at the age of 41, had claimed she was trafficked by the notorious financier Jeffrey Epstein and forced into sexual encounters with the former Duke of York when she was a teenager. Despite Andrew’s consistent denials of these allegations, the scandal has continued to cast a long shadow over him.

In a surprising announcement, Buckingham Palace declared that Prince Andrew would henceforth be identified solely as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. This change takes effect immediately and signals a further distancing of the royal family from the controversy.

Additionally, Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles, is expected to vacate his stately 30-room, Grade II-listed mansion within the Windsor Castle estate. Plans are underway for him to relocate to different private accommodations, underscoring the royal family’s intent to re-establish its reputation.

Following the Palace’s announcement, Giuffre’s family issued a statement, sharing their perspective on the latest developments in this ongoing saga. Their response adds yet another layer to the unfolding narrative surrounding the royal’s alleged involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities.

Her brother Skye and sister-in-law Amanda said: ‘Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.

‘Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her.

‘Today, she declares victory. 

The royal’s accuser (pictured), 41, who took her own life earlier this year, has alleged she was trafficked by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein three times for sex with the ex-Duke, 65, as a teenager

‘We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.’

Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Virginia Giuffre during her civil sex assault case against Prince Andrew, said the King stripping Andrew’s titles was a ‘tipping point’.

She said: ‘The voice of Virginia Giuffre has changed history. Her bravery, determination and resilient spirit has led to this defining moment.

‘As we account for the tipping point significance of the King stripping the title “Prince” from his brother Andrew, it should be a lesson for all to listen, hear and believe survivors of abuse.’

The Royal Family’s latest announcement comes after weeks of excruciating headlines about the King’s younger brother. 

These included damning new revelations in a posthumous memoir from Ms Giuffre. 

Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice was released earlier this month, with the manuscript finished before she died.

The explosive book revolves around her years spent as a sex slave to Jeffrey Epstein, who took his own life in jail in 2019, aged 66, awaiting trial without the chance of bail on sex trafficking charges. 

His British ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking after helping recruit and groom underage victims for him.

Extracts published by The Guardian show Ms Giuffre calls the ex-Duke ‘entitled’ and viewing sex as his ‘birthright’.

Within the 400-page autobiography, she also claims Andrew said ‘thank you’ in a ‘clipped British accent’ after their alleged first encounter when she was 17.

She also recalls how Maxwell heaped praise on her after the encounter, saying, ‘You did well, the Prince had fun’.

Prince Andrew denied having sex with Ms Giuffre, but forked out millions in an out of court settlement in February 2022.

The Royal Family had been prepared for the further scandal the book would likely cause, knowing it was to be published this month.

But a kind of tipping point came when scandalous emails from Andrew to Epstein were uncovered by the Mail on Sunday in a world exclusive last week – causing fears more are yet to emerge.

In the astonishing message, the Prince told the paedophile ‘we are in this together’ a day after the MoS released the infamous picture of the Prince with his alleged then-teenage sex victim Ms Giuffre.

He said he was ‘concerned’ about the impact this newspaper’s revelations would have on his friend but reassured the vile billionaire they would ‘rise above’ press scrutiny.

It was sent to Epstein 12 weeks after Andrew had supposedly ceased all contact with the convicted sex offender.

The leaked email provides definitive proof the Prince lied in his car-crash interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with Epstein after the pair were famously pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.

Writing to Epstein on February 28, 2011 – the day after the MoS published the now infamous picture of him with a teenage Virginia Giuffre that led to his downfall – Andrew said: ‘I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me!

‘It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.

‘Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!’

Andrew signed off with: ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’.

KG refers to Duke’s ‘Knight of the Garter’ – a prestigious position he has held since 2006 and which he retained until it was removed on Friday.

The hugely embarrassing email heaped further pressure on the Royal Family to sever all ties with the disgraced ex-Yorks and raised fresh questions about their future at Royal Lodge.

The Mail on Sunday also revealed days later Andrew embroiled the Metropolitan Police and one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s most senior aides in a campaign to smear his teenage sex accuser. 

Another bombshell email obtained by this newspaper exposed how he asked his taxpayer-funded Met bodyguard to investigate Ms Giuffre, passing him her date of birth and confidential social security number.

Astonishingly, the royal then told Ed Perkins, the late Queen’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 the officer complied with the prince’s request, while Ms Giuffre’s family has since 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,’ they added. 

A spokesperson for the Met told the MoS they were ‘actively looking into the claims made’, with the force’s Specialist Crime Command in charge of the investigation. 

It raised the prospect that Andrew could become the first royal to be caught up in a criminal probe in more than 20 years. 

This is a breaking story – further updates to follow.