Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre dies, aged 41

Her family has issued a statement after her death on her farm in Western Australia.

Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her, has died aged 41.

The mother-of-three's family said she died by suicide at her WA farm in the small town of Neergabby, about 80 kilometres north of Perth, on Anzac Day.

Police and paramedics arrived at the large property just before 10pm yesterday and provided first aid, but she couldn't be saved.

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"It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia," her family said in a statement to 9News.

"She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking."

"Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors."

Prince Andrew strenuously denied her allegations.

King Charles' younger brother paid millions of dollars to Giuffre in 2022 to settle a civil case out of court after she accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17 years old.

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Giuffre also sued US financier and convicted pedophile Epstein, saying he sexually abused her and pressured her into having sex with prominent figures within his social orbit.

A court case involving Giuffre was mentioned in a Western Australia court on April 9, where Giuffre did not appear.

Her family said she would be missed beyond measure and paid tribute to her incredible courage.

"Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure," they said.

"The light of her life were her children Christian, Noah, and Emily. It was when she held her newborn daughter in her arms that Virginia realised she had to fight back against those who had abused her and so many others.

"There are no words that can express the grave loss we feel today with the passing of our sweet Virginia. She was heroic and will always be remembered for her incredible courage and loving spirit.

"In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.

"We know that she is with the angels."

Central figure in Jeffrey Epstein's downfall

The American-born Giuffre, who lived in Australia for years, became an advocate for sex trafficking survivors after emerging as a central figure in Epstein's prolonged downfall.

The wealthy, well-connected New York money manager killed himself in August 2019 while awaiting trial on US federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14.

The charges came 14 years after police in Palm Beach, Florida, first began investigating allegations that he sexually abused underage girls who were hired to give him massages.

Giuffre came forward publicly after the initial investigation ended in an 18-month Florida jail term for Epstein, who made a secret deal to avoid federal prosecution by pleading guilty instead to relatively minor state-level charges of soliciting prostitution. He was released in 2009.

In subsequent lawsuits, Giuffre said she was a teenage spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago — President Donald Trump's Palm Beach club — when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein's girlfriend and later employee, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Giuffre said Maxwell hired her as a masseuse for Epstein, but the couple effectively made her a sexual servant, pressuring her into gratifying not only Epstein but his friends and associates.

Giuffre claimed she was flown around the world for assignations with men including Prince Andrew, while she was 17 and 18.

The men denied it and assailed Giuffre's credibility. She acknowledged changing some key details of her account, including the age at which she first met Epstein.

But many parts of her story were supported by documents, witness testimony and photos — including one of her and Andrew, with his his arm around her bare midriff, in Maxwell's London townhouse.

Giuffre said in one of her lawsuits that she had sex with the royal three times: in London during her 2001 trip, at Epstein's New York mansion when she was 17 and in the Virgin Islands when she was 18.

"Ghislaine said, 'I want you to do for him what you do for Epstein,'" Giuffre told NBC News' "Dateline" in September 2019.

Andrew categorically rejected Giuffre's allegations and said he didn't recall having met her.

His denials came under scrutiny during a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers saw a prince who proffered curious rebuttals — such as disputing Giuffre's recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring — and showed no empathy for the women who said Epstein abused them.

Within days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties. He settled with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, agreeing to make a "substantial donation" to her survivors' organisation.

A statement filed in court said that the prince acknowledged Epstein was a sex trafficker and Giuffre "an established victim of abuse".

She also filed, and in at least some cases settled, lawsuits against Epstein and others connected to him. In one case, she dropped her claims against a prominent US attorney, saying she might have erred in identifying him as one of the men to whom Epstein supplied her.

Epstein's suicide put an end to his accusers' hopes of holding him criminally accountable.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She said said she wasn't to blame for Epstein's abuse.

Prosecutors elected not to include Giuffre's allegations in the Maxwell case, but Giuffre later told the court that the British socialite had "opened the door to hell".

Giuffre, born Virginia Roberts, told interviewers that her childhood was shattered when she was sexually abused as a grade-schooler by a man her family knew. She later ran away from home and endured more abuse, she said.

She said she met her now-husband in 2002 while taking massage training in Thailand at Epstein's behest.

She married, moved to Australia and had a family.

Giuffre founded an advocacy charity, SOAR, in 2015.

Giuffre was hospitalised after a serious accident, her publicist said last month.

She didn't answer questions about the date, location, nature or other specifics of the accident and about the accuracy of an Instagram post that appeared to come from Giuffre.

The post said she had been in a car that was hit by a school bus and her prognosis was dire.

- Reported with AP.

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