Last night, BBC’s Panorama aired its explosive new investigation into the Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein drama. The scandal, involving multiple accounts of global sex trafficking by the late financier Epstein, and which directly implicates the royal himself, has been gripping us for months; not least thanks to Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview on the 16th November - the interview which launched a thousand memes and sank the Prince’s career and credibility.
Yet, in the middle of all of this, buried beneath the pile of memes and jokes and comments on whether Prince Andrew can - or can’t - sweat, is Virginia Roberts: the woman who claims she was trafficked into having sex with him back in 2001, when she was 17.
The first extensive interview with her was aired as part of the Panorama show. In it, she described in excruciating detail her interaction with Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and his girlfriend - and friend of the Prince’s - Ghislaine Maxwell. It was emotional and explosive, largely due to the fact that it was the first time we have really heard from Virginia herself. In the midst of a scandal, we tend to hear and listen more to the famous players in the game, rather than the victims themselves.
Tearful and clearly traumatised, Virginia was also admirably defiant during her interview. She was strong in her insistence that Prince Andrew is lying, saying she is “calling BS” on his excuses- and she implored the people of the UK to stand with her.
So, should we? Should we stand with an unknown America woman against the Duke of York, Prince Andrew - the Queen’s son and a prominent member of the Royal family?
Well, yes. Here’s why.
In the tidal wave of support that came crashing down in the wake of #metoo, we have seen countless powerful men fall. But did we really bemoan the loss of Harvey Weinstein - a film producer we long expected was, at the very least, creepy AF, or Jeffrey Epstein - a financier no one had heard of until he was proclaimed a sex offender?
We see the Royal Family differently. And we may be blinkered in our response to Virginia’s accusations because of this. They are almost untouchable; ingrained into the fabric of our society to such a degree that the idea any of them could be guilty of sexual abuse is, unthinkable. We believe they are above this behaviour, and yet these allegations indicate that- maybe - they are not.
This is what Virginia Roberts has long been a victim of: power. Her silence was guaranteed by it, her victimhood set in stone. As she explained in her interview, she was never forcibly chained to the life she led with Jeffrey Epstein, but; “these powerful people were my chains.”
Virginia describes how Epstein and Maxwell exploited her story of a childhood of abuse and living on the streets. They used her vulnerability against her and she fell into a life as their sex slave, simply because- as she so heartbreakingly describes - “This must be what life is about... it was all I’d known.” They were able to get away with it for so long because they targeted desperate young girls, who had no money, ‘bad’ family backgrounds, histories of abuse. They knew they would get away with it, because they had everything these girls did not.
When Virginia reported her experience with Prince Andrew to the Metropolitan Police in 2015, no further action was taken. She even suspected this would be the case at the time, allegedly asking them “But what will you be able to do about it?” So, her plea to the British public to stand with her, as she stands against one of the biggest pillars of our establishment is a profound one.
Crucially, Virginia’s accusations are- at present- just that, and no legal conclusions have been reached. Yet, on the palpable weakness of Prince Andrew’s defence, and the definite proof that Virginia was, indeed, sex trafficked by Epstein; the odds are not in the royal’s favour. We may soon be coming to a time where Virginia’s question to the police, could actually be answered.
If #metoo has done anything, it is to show that powerful people can be called to account for their actions. Money and power has for too long provided immunity for those willing to exploit their position, meaning that abusers are shielded from consequences. Virginia Roberts is asking us not to let that happen. If we stand with her, we stand with all of those who have been silenced by this invisible network of power that protects the guilty.
Virginia Roberts does not have the protection of wealth or a position in the Royal Family. If we don’t stand with the people Virginia Roberts represents; who do we stand with, and what do we stand for?
