Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has died.
Ms Giuffre, who was 41, died by suicide at her home in Australia.
Her family said she had been a ”fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse” but that in the end the toll ”became unbearable”.
West Australia police say they were called to a home in the Neergabby area of North Perth where Ms Giuffre was found unresponsive. Officers said early indications were that the death was not suspicious.
Virginia Giuffre said she was trafficked to Prince Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17 years old. She brought a civil case against the Duke of York which was settled out of court in 2022. Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations but is understood to paid a multi million pound settlement in the case.
Ms Giuffre decided to first speak out after Jeffrey Epstein was released from a prison sentence for procuring an underage girl and was photographed soon afterwards with Prince Andrew. The Duke of York always denied her claims but the allegations, and his disastrous attempt to defend himself in a Newsnight interview, led to his withdrawal from public life and the decision that he is not allowed to use his royal title.
Following the announcement of her death, Virginia Giuffre’s spokesperson, Dini von Mueffling, described her as a ”beacon to other survivors and victims”.
In recent weeks, Virginia Giuffre had claimed to have just days to live in a post on Instagram. In it, she said she had had a car accident with police querying the severity of the crash after the post was made. Her family said she hadn’t meant to make the post public.
