A Jeffrey Epstein victim says Prince Andrew bought her vodka at a London club when she was 17 before having sex with her
- In a clip from her first-ever on-camera interview for NBC News, Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre explains how the late financier's close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, coerced her into having sex with Prince Andrew of Britain.
- Giuffre told NBC News she was 17 in the widely circulated photo of her with Prince Andrew and Maxwell (above), and that the photo was taken next to the bathroom in Maxwell's London residence where the British royal sexually abused her.
- Now 35, Giuffre says Maxwell introduced her to Prince Andrew, who accompanied her to club Tramp in London and bought her vodka before sexually abusing her that night.
- He sexually abused her two more times, in New York and the US Virgin Islands, she told NBC News.
- Giuffre previously alleged that Prince Andrew sexually abused her in court documents, including a draft of a memoir she wrote, as part of a defamation suit against Maxwell that the socialite settled in 2017.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre is one Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers, having testified that the late financier, his ex-girlfriend and alleged "madam" Ghislaine Maxwell, and some of his powerful associates sexually abused her during the years she says she was sex trafficked by Epstein.
Now, in an interview with NBC News' Savannah Guthrie, Giuffre has spoken on-camera for the first time. In a clip from the segment, which is set to air Friday night and include interviews with other accusers, Giuffre says Epstein's associate Prince Andrew "was an abuser. He was a participant."
Giuffre says Maxwell, a British socialite who has yet to be indicted in any ongoing Epstein investigations, first recruited her for the financier's sex-trafficking operation when Giuffre was a teenager working at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort as a locker room attendant.
In unsealed court documents, including a defamation suit filed by Giuffre against Maxwell that was settled in 2017, Giuffre, now 35, says Epstein coerced her into performing sexual acts on him while she was a minor for a number of years. She says Epstein, along with Maxwell, directed her to have sex with his powerful connections.
Giuffre says Prince Andrew bought her vodka at a high-end London club when she was 17, before sexually abusing her for the first time
Giuffre told Guthrie that, when she was 17 - and captured in a widespread photo (above) with Prince Andrew and Maxwell - she was staying in Maxwell's London residence, and was directed to have sex with the prince.
"The first time in London, I was so young. Ghislaine woke me up in the morning and she said 'You're gonna meet a prince today.' I didn't know at that point that I was going to be trafficked to that prince," Giuffre says in the clip. "And then that night Prince Andrew came to her house in London. And we went out to club Tramp. Prince Andrew got me alcohol. It was in the VIP section. I'm pretty sure it was vodka.
"Prince Andrew was like 'Let's dance together.' And I was like, 'Okay.' And we leave club Tramp and I hop in the car with Ghislaine and Jeffrey and Ghislaine said, 'He's coming back to the house. And I want you to do to him what you do for Epstein.' I couldn't believe it."
Read more: Inside Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein's controversial 20-year friendship
Giuffre said Prince Andrew abused her that night in a bathroom next to where the photo of the two was taken. The abuse then moved to a bedroom in Maxwell's London townhouse, she said. Giuffre told NBC News that the prince abused her again later, once in Epstein's Manhattan residence, and again on his private island in the US Virgin Islands.
"He wasn't rude or anything about it," Giuffre told Guthrie in the clip. "He said, you know, 'Thank you,' and some kind of soft sentiments like that. And left. I just couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe that even royalty were involved. "
Giuffre's allegations against Prince Andrew resurfaced over the summer after Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy by the Southern District of New York in June. In August, Epstein committed suicide in federal prison. He had pleaded not guilty.
Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace have "emphatically" denied Giuffre's accusations, telling NBC News and other outlets that the Duke of York has never had any form of sexual contact or a relationship with Giuffre. Maxwell has also denied accusations against her and has not been indicted in any ongoing investigations.
"He denies that it ever happened. And he's going to keep denying that it ever happened. But he knows the truth. And I know the truth," Giuffre told NBC News.
Giuffre told NBC News that she's trying to get justice by filing defamation lawsuits. The statute of limitations has expired on her alleged abuse, she says, but she can still get her abusers in court if they call her a "liar."
"My lawyers said the way to get Ghislaine Maxwell held accountable, the way to get Jeffrey Epstein held accountable, is through them saying I'm a liar, which I'm not," Guiffre said.
In the full NBC News segment, at least six other Epstein accusers are interviewed. In late August, many of Epstein's accusers appeared in court in the Southern District of New York to testify about Epstein's sex trafficking crimes. Judge Richard Berman said that, even though the federal indictment had to be dropped after Epstein's death, the investigation into the crimes of his co-conspirators would continue.
He also said that Epstein's victims deserved their day in court. More than 20 women testified in court that Epstein abused them, many as minors and dozens of women have accused Epstein of sexual abuse since he was arrested.
"I can relate to pretty much every person sitting here next to me," Giuffre said in the NBC News clip, surrounded by other Epstein accusers.
- Read more:
- Epstein files unsealed: Thousands of accusers' documents have been released from the defamation suit against his ex-girlfriend and alleged 'madam'
- 'I've suffered and he has won': More than 20 of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers gave emotional testimonies in court as prosecutors moved to shut down his case
- Prince Andrew's legal team reportedly thinks the picture of him and Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre is fake
- A Jeffrey Epstein accuser says Prince Andrew 'knows exactly what he's done' and that she won't stop until he's 'brought to justice'