Virginia Giuffre’s family says “our broken hearts have been lifted” over former Prince Andrew’s arrest

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked to engage in sex with former Prince Andrew when she was a teenager, thanked British police on Thursday after his arrest for suspected misconduct in public office.

“At last, today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty,” Giuffre’s siblings said in a statement shared with CBS News.

“On behalf of our sister, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, we extend our gratitude to the U.K.’s Thames Valley Police for their investigation, and the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” Sky and Amanda Roberts and Danny and Lanette Wilson said. “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

Giuffre, an American who was one of the most outspoken accusers of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, died by suicide last year at 41. She accused Mountbatten-Windsor — former Prince Andrew — of assaulting her on three separate occasions when she was 17, which he has denied. 

Giuffre said in a lawsuit filed in New York in 2021 that the assault was made possible by Epstein, who she alleged trafficked her to Mountabatten-Windsor.

Mountabatten-Windsor denied her allegations but reached a settlement with her in 2022, paying her around $16 million, according to British media reports. 

The Thames Valley Police force in the U.K. confirmed earlier this month it was assessing claims against Mountbatten-Windsor that emerged in the latest U.S. Justice Department release of Epstein files to determine whether a formal investigation was warranted. Police said Thursday they arrested “a man in his sixties from Norfolk” as part of the investigation and “on suspicion of misconduct in public office.” They said they were searching properties in Berkshire and Norfolk.

Andrew’s arrest came about two weeks after an anti-royal organization called for police to investigate documents indicating that he shared confidential government information with Epstein when the royal worked as a British trade envoy. King Charles III, who is Mountabatten-Windsor’s brother, had indicated that the British royal family would cooperate if police came asking questions about his younger brother.

“This is truly a monumental moment in the Epstein survivor’s relentless pursuit of justice,” Sigrid McCawley, an attorney who represented Giuffre, said in a statement Thursday.

“Virginia Guiffre worked for years to shine a light on the crimes being committed by Epstein and his co-conspirators and to send the message that no one should be above the law and the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor today is a step toward that accountability,” McCawley said.

Giuffre shared her story in her posthumously published memoir, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.”