The Guardian view on the price of a prince: what Virginia Giuffre’s story says about palace accountability | Editorial

<p>The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has exposed a constitutional blind spot: royal privilege remains beyond democratic scrutiny. MPs must be able to question power</p><p>The tragic story of Virginia Giuffre raises the question of who governs when royal privilege and public outrage collide. As a vulnerable <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/prince-andrew-virginia-giuffre-abuse-epstein-maxwell">teenager</a> she was drawn into a world of sexual exploitation by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Ms Giuffre alleged that Epstein trafficked her and that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17. He has denied all the claims. Despite previously insisting he had no memory of meeting her, the prince <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/18/york-mp-calls-on-royal-family-to-explain-source-of-12m-virginia-giuffre-payment">reportedly</a> paid £12m to settle her civil case in 2022. The money was said to have come from his mother, the late queen – who, just six weeks later, was <a href="https://people.com/royals/queen-elizabeth-escorted-prince-andrew-prince-philip-memorial-service/">photographed</a> walking beside him at her husband’s memorial service.</p><p>With a posthumous <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/20/nobodys-girl-by-virginia-roberts-giuffre-review-a-devastating-expose-of-power-corruption-and-abuse">memoir</a>, Ms Giuffre has brought&nbsp;the issue back into the spotlight. In his calamitous 2019 Newsnight interview, Prince Andrew claimed that he cut all ties with Epstein after their December 2010 meeting in New&nbsp;York. But leaked <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdegkd00yz3o">emails&nbsp;</a>from just two months later told a different story;&nbsp;with Prince Andrew asking to keep in touch and writi