The family of Virginia Giuffre has renewed calls for King Charles to meet with them during his upcoming state visit to the United States, urging him to 'show unity with survivors' of the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Royal Visit to the US
The King and Queen Camilla are scheduled to arrive in the US on Monday for a four-day visit, during which they will meet President Donald Trump. The royal couple will also be guests of honour at a White House banquet, and Charles has been invited to address a joint meeting of the US Congress.
Family's Appeal
Sky Roberts, Ms Giuffre's brother, and Amanda Roberts, her sister-in-law, have strongly urged Charles to meet with them and other Epstein survivors. Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Friday evening, Sky Roberts said: 'We need the King of England to stand up and show his unity with survivors. We will be 10 minutes from him. We will be lobbying that same day in the same buildings that he will be entering in and out of. And all we ask is for a 10-minute meeting with the King to show him that we're real people, with real feelings.'
BBC Investigation Reveals New Details
The renewed appeal comes after a BBC investigation revealed that Epstein continued to house women in London flats for years after the Metropolitan Police decided not to investigate Ms Giuffre's original allegation in 2015. She had told the force she was trafficked to the UK by Epstein in the early 2000s. Mr Roberts commented: 'This has been a systematic failure from not only the FBI, but the Metropolitan Police there in the UK. If they would have listened to Virginia and taken her claim seriously the first time, it could have avoided so many other years of abuse that occurred right under the noses of these officers.'
Call for Public Inquiry
Mr and Mrs Roberts also vowed to join Lisa Phillips, another Epstein survivor, in calling for a public inquiry into allegations made by women in the UK against Epstein. Amanda Roberts said: 'We would 100% call for an inquiry. Clearly, there are more things to be investigated and there's more evidence sitting there, especially if it was just discovered that he had been having flats years after the first reports came forward.'
Controversy Over Potential Clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell
Earlier this week, controversy erupted in Congress following reports that some Republican members of an influential committee investigating Epstein were open to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, being granted clemency in return for her giving evidence before them. Democrat opponents have condemned this as 'sick' and branded Maxwell a 'monster'. The British socialite is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the US for luring young girls for Epstein to sexually abuse.
Asked if a pardon for Maxwell in exchange for evidence is something they could support, Amanda Roberts replied: 'Never. Never. Even the idea of pardon and blame Maxwell in the same sentence makes my stomach completely sick – and the idea that this would be floated around as something plausible.'
Congressman's Calls and Royal Sources' Response
US Congressman Ro Khanna has repeatedly called for Charles and Camilla to meet with Epstein survivors. However, royal sources have previously said that the legal implications of the King and Queen coming into contact with any of Epstein's survivors, and the King's constitutional position, would make a meeting impossible while there are ongoing UK police investigations into matters related to Epstein.
