7:28 am today

UK police not taking further action over Andrew bodyguard claim

7:28 am today
(FILES) An undated handout photo taken at an undisclosed location and released on August 9, 2021 by the United States District Couty for the Southern District of New York shows (L-R) Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell posing for a photo. Virginia Giuffre, who accused disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain's Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has taken her own life at her home in Australia, her family said on April 26, 2025. (Photo by Handout / US District Court - Southern District of New York (SDNY) / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

An undated handout photo taken at an undisclosed location and released on 9 August 2021 by the United States District County for the Southern District of New York shows (L-R) Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell posing for a photo. Virginia Giuffre, who accused disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain's Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has taken her own life at her home in Australia, her family said on 26 April 2025. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP

London's police force will not be taking further action over claims that Britain's former prince Andrew asked his protection officer to carry out checks on Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her as a teenager, it said.

In October, Britain's King Charles stripped his younger brother Andrew of his title of prince and forced him out of his Windsor home, seeking to distance the royals from him over his links to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Earlier the same month, London's police force said it was "actively looking" into allegations in a Mail on Sunday newspaper report that Andrew had asked one of his personal-protection officers in 2011 to dig up information about Giuffre, who died by suicide in April.

"Following recent reporting suggesting that Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked his Met Police close-protection officer to carry out checks on Ms Giuffre in 2011, the Metropolitan Police Service has carried out a further assessment," it said in a statement on Saturday.

It said this assessment had not revealed any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct.

"To date, we have not received any additional evidence that would support reopening the investigation. In the absence of any further information, we will be taking no further action."

- Reuters

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs