Prince Andrew, 65, announced on Friday that he would step down as Duke of York after years of public scrutiny over his ties to the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein. King Charles’ brother was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor in places associated with Epstein or his associates. In February 2022, he reached an undisclosed financial settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed against him in the United States.
The Fall of Prince Andrew: A Timeline View
Andrew was born in 1960. He started his service in the Royal Navy in 1979 and in 1982 he took part in the Falklands War. In July 1986, he married Sarah Ferguson and received the title of Duke of York. They separated in 1992 and finalized their divorce in May 1996. Andrew reportedly met Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and investment banker, around 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell. In 2000, Epstein, Maxwell and Andrew were seen together at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Later that year, Epstein and Maxwell were guests at a joint birthday party hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Virginia Giuffre claimed that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her at Maxwell’s Belgravia home in London in March 2001, as well as at Epstein’s New York residence and during “orgies” on his private island in the Caribbean, according to The Guardian. She claimed that these incidents began when she was 17 years old. The Duke of York has vehemently denied the allegations.
In December 2010, after Epstein’s release from prison for pleading guilty to underage prostitution charges, Andrew visited him in New York. The two were photographed walking together in Central Park.
Amid the backlash over the visit, Andrew resigned in July 2011 from his position as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, a role he had held since 2001.
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In April 2015, court documents filed in Florida brought allegations that Andrew had sex with Giuffre. Buckingham Palace denied the claims, the report said.
Following Epstein’s death in his prison cell in August 2019, Andrew withdrew from public duties “for the foreseeable future” following a disastrous BBC interview. He claimed in the interview that he could not have had sex with Giuffre because he was at home after visiting Pizza Express in Woking. He also said that her account of him dancing with her before was inaccurate because he couldn’t break a sweat, stating that he “doesn’t remember ever meeting this lady”.
On January 12, 2022, a New York judge denied Andrew’s effort to throw out a civil sexual abuse lawsuit brought by Giuffre. A day later, the Queen removed a number of Andrew’s military connections and royal patronages. The action followed a letter from more than 150 military veterans expressing their “dismay and anger”.
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In principle, a settlement was reached between Andrew and Giuffre on 15 February 2022. In what was called a “remarkable turnaround”, Andrew agreed to make a “substantial donation” to the charity and acknowledged that Giuffre had “suffered as an established victim of abuse”. He also expressed regret about his relationship with Epstein.
In January 2023, Ghislaine Maxwell, then imprisoned for sex trafficking, questioned the authenticity of a widely circulated photo showing Andrew with Giuffre, saying in a video interview: “I don’t believe it’s real for a second.”
Unsealed US court documents in January 2024 contained additional allegations against Andrew, such as claims that he had sex with Giuffre when she was a minor.
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Virginia Giuffre died in April 2025 at the age of 41. Her family confirmed she died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia.
In October 2025, a leaked email emerged in which Andrew wrote to Epstein saying “we’re in this together” after a photo of him with a teenage Giuffre was published in 2011. This appeared to contradict his previous statement during a BBC Newsnight interview where he claimed he had cut off contact with Epstein at the time.
(With contributions from The Guardian)
