Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, has away at age 41, according to her family.
She killed herself at home in Australia on Friday, April 25, according to a statement from her family.
“We regret to inform you that Virginia passed away at her farm in Western Australia last night,” they continued.
“After being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, she committed suicide.”
In the battle against sex trafficking and sexual assault, Virginia was a determined warrior. For many survivors, she was their ray of hope.
“The burden of abuse is so great that it is ultimately too much for Virginia to bear.”
West Australia police say they found Giuffre unconscious at a home in the Neergabby area on Friday, April 25.
Emergency first aid was given by St. John Western Australia and the police. The 41-year-old woman was tragically pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police spokesperson.
“Major Crime detectives are investigating the death; preliminary findings suggest that it is not suspicious.”
Giuffre claims that after being sex trafficked to Prince Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell when she was just 17 years old, she was “forced to have sex” with him at Epstein’s New York apartment.
Prince Andrew has been exonerated of all charges.
As part of the financial agreement he and the Royal reached out of court in 2022, Giuffre did not admit any wrongdoing.
In 2019, while detained pending trial for alleged sex trafficking, Epstein killed himself. In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role in the sexual assault of minor girls.
Three weeks ago, Giuffre shared with her Instagram followers that she had been in a car accident and that the collision had left her with “four days to live” because of “kidney renal failure.”
Along with the announcement, she posted multiple photos of her injuries, which included significant facial bruising.
However, local officials downplayed the accident’s severity, describing it as a “minor crash” with “no reported injuries.”
Rumors of tension between Giuffre and her estranged husband Robert had led to her being accused of violating a family violence restraining order in Ocean Reef, near Perth, a month earlier.
When her case was first heard at the Joondalup Magistrates’ Court in northern Perth on March 14, she did not enter a plea.
Western Australia Courts reports that the matter was rescheduled for a plea hearing on June 11. Giuffre “looks forward to defending herself against [Robert’s] malicious claim,” according to her agent at the time.
After hearing of her death, Giuffre’s publicist Dini von Mueffling described the mother-of-three as “deeply loving, wise, and funny.”
She loved a lot of animals and her kids. In a statement, she said, “She was always more worried about me than about herself.”
“I can’t express how much I will miss her. Representing her was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.