Virginia Giuffre's Family Says She's 'Vindicated' After Epstein Emails Seem to Suggest Photo with Ex-Prince Andrew Is Real
- - Virginia Giuffre's Family Says She's 'Vindicated' After Epstein Emails Seem to Suggest Photo with Ex-Prince Andrew Is Real
Simon PerryFebruary 5, 2026 at 10:05 AM
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent in Westminster, London in Sept. 2025
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty
Newly released emails seem to suggest Ghislaine Maxwell claimed the infamous photograph of Virginia Giuffre and the then-Prince Andrew is real
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor suggested that the picture, apparently taken in 2001, was fake in his infamous 2019 interview with the BBC
Andrew is starting a new life in Norfolk after leaving his longstanding royal home
The late Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and an accuser of the former Prince Andrew, is “vindicated” in the latest tranche of emails, her family says.
Newly-uncovered emails include correspondence apparently written by Epstein’s associate and confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, which seems to discuss the existence of the infamous photograph showing Andrew with his arm around the then-Virginia Roberts in London.
According to the BBC, a 2015 email that appears to be from Maxwell says, “In 2001 I was in London when [redacted] met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family."
The email, which the BBC said appears in Epstein's estate files as a draft statement and written by "G Maxwell," adds that she was not aware of “anything improper” happening at her home.
PEOPLE has reached out to Andrew for comment.
The infamous photograph of Andrew with Virginia Giuffre. Ghislaine Maxwell is standing behind them HANDOUT/US District Court - Southern Dis/AFP via Getty
Both Andrew and Maxwell have previously stated that they believe the photograph is a fake.
Andrew, who has always denied any wrongdoing in his ties to Epstein, said in his infamous 2019 interview with BBC's Newsnight that he didn’t recall meeting Giuffre and called into question the veracity of the photograph.
"Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored, but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken," he said in the sit-down that aired on Newsnight.
Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles and honors by his brother King Charles in October 2025 and forced to move out of his Royal Lodge home, was named in a lawsuit against Epstein filed by Giuffre, alleging that she was sex trafficked to the royal when she was 17 and had three sexual encounters with him. In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre without any admission of liability.
The late Virginia Giuffre with a photo of her as a teen
Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
Giuffre's brother, Sky Roberts, said he and the family were "really proud of our sister," telling BBC’s Newsnight program on Feb. 4, "This is a very vindicating moment for Virginia."
"It truly does vindicate Virginia," her brother added. "She was not lying this entire time.”
Her sister, Amanda added to the news program, “I’ve felt like a moment of such overwhelming emotion because I wish she was here to see this, she fought so hard and so long and she was still so strong.”
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The existence of these emails seems to back up ones from Epstein himself, which were unearthed in November 2025, that appear to say Virginia was sent to London by him. In a July 2011 message to Peggy Siegal, Epstein wrote, "Yes she [Giuffre] was on my plane and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew."
Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025. Her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, was published posthumously in October, in which she reiterated her accusations.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
