The Metropolitan police are looking into claims that Prince Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded close protection officer to uncover information about Virginia Giuffre hours before the emergence of a bombshell picture of them together.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, told broadcasters the allegations should be investigated as it was “absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used”.
Giuffre’s family has renewed calls for Charles to strip Andrew of his “prince” title.
“The royal family will have to make its own decisions about what other steps can be taken,” he said.
“I think the royal family have said that they didn’t want to take up parliamentary time with this.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating allegations that, just hours before a shocking photo of the couple surfaced, Prince Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded close protection officer to find out more about Virginia Giuffre.
According to a government minister on Sunday, leaked emails that appear to show Andrew gave his Met bodyguard Giuffre’s birthdate and private US social security number were “deeply concerning.”.
The claims should be looked into, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told reporters, saying that it was “absolutely not the way that close protection officers should be used.”.
Andrew reportedly asked one of his close protection officers to gather information about Giuffre in 2011, according to messages he allegedly sent to Ed Perkins, the queen’s deputy press secretary at the time, which were published by The Mail on Sunday.
In the messages, Andrew asserted that Giuffre had a criminal record in the United States and that he had provided Perkins with her date of birth and private nine-digit social security number. The email was sent just hours before a notorious photo of Andrew and 17-year-old Giuffre was made public.
According to her family, she had no prior criminal history. The police officer may not have complied with the request.
The Metropolitan police acknowledged media coverage and said they were actively investigating the allegations. “”.
In her suicide earlier this year, Giuffre claimed that Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her and forced her to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17.
Andrew’s close ties to Epstein are putting him under increasing pressure; this weekend, it was reported that he met a second victim of the paedophile financier.
Having already lost the use of his HRH title and stopped being a “working royal,” he gave up his royal titles, including Duke of York, on Friday. In addition, his ex-wife has renounced her title; she will now be known as Sarah Ferguson rather than the Duchess of York. Princess status will be passed down to the couple’s daughters.
After speaking with the king, Andrew said he had made the decision, saying: “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further.”. As a result, I will no longer use my title or the honors that I have received. I vehemently refute the charges against me, as I have stated before. He has not responded to the most recent accusations.
A parliamentary act would be required to remove the dukedom, which Andrew keeps. He is still a prince because he is the son of a monarch; the king would have to issue a letter patent to alter this.
The demands made by Giuffre’s family for Charles to deprive Andrew of his “prince” title have been renewed. Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, stated on BBC Two’s Newsnight on Friday that he would like the king to go one step further and “take out the prince in the Andrew,” but that his sister would have been “very proud” of the most recent development involving Prince Andrew.
“Anyone involved, in my opinion, ought to bear some measure of accountability and responsibility for these survivors,” he stated.
“The government will be guided by the royals,” Miliband said when asked if he would support such legislation. “The royal family will need to decide for itself what else can be done,” he stated. “I believe the royal family stated that they didn’t want to occupy time in parliament on this. The parliament is talking about a lot of other topics. “.”.
In an excerpt from her posthumous memoir that was released by The Guardian last week, Giuffre described her initial meeting with the “entitled” prince and claimed that he “thought having sex with me was his birthright.”.
