EXCLUSIVE: Inside Story of How Virginia Giuffre Was Seized With Terror When She First Unveiled the Photograph That Would Eventually Bring Prince Andrew to His Knees
Virginia Giuffre panicked when revealing the photo that later doomed Prince Andrew.
Nov. 6 2025, Published 6:15 p.m. ET
Virginia Giuffre shook with fear when she first handed over the photograph that would go on to destroy Prince Andrew's royal life – and change history, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The now-infamous image, showing 17-year-old Giuffre standing beside the then-Duke of York with his arm around her waist and Ghislaine Maxwell grinning in the background, was given to journalist Sharon Churcher in 2011 during an interview at Giuffre's home on Australia's Central Coast.
At the time, Churcher had tracked Giuffre down after uncovering court papers that described a teenage girl "sexually exploited by Epstein's adult male peers including royalty."
The Photo That Changed Everything
Virginia Giuffre revealed the photograph that changed royal history.
Churcher said: "Without that photograph, handed to me by Virginia and published by The Mail on Sunday in 2011, none of the events that followed – Andrew being stripped of his titles, the Epstein and Maxwell trials – would have happened."
Giuffre, then 27, was terrified as she showed the photo.
"I'm not sure that I should be showing this to you. He's a British prince," she stammered to Churcher while clutching the envelope in which she had kept the dog-eared picture for nearly a decade.
The photo, taken on a disposable Kodak FunSaver camera in 2001, was originally snapped by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein at his London townhouse. Giuffre said it was meant simply "to prove to her mother she had met a royal."
Instead, it became key evidence for the FBI in the case against Epstein and Maxwell – and the defining image in the scandal that engulfed Andrew, who has always denied the allegations against him.
Virginia's Moment of Fear
Journalist Sharon Churcher received the photo that exposed a royal scandal.
A source close to the original investigation said: "Virginia was terrified when she gave Sharon that photo. She'd been keeping it hidden for years, afraid of what might happen if Epstein or anyone connected to him found out. That fear was real – she was risking everything."
When Churcher met her, Giuffre described the horrors of Epstein's trafficking network and the abuse she said she suffered as a teenager.
"I've gone from pain, to hurt, to anger," she told Churcher over coffee in her garden. "Epstein was a monster. He and Andrew were shameless. They have no remorse, no guilt for anything they have done. Andrew knew how young I was."
Andrew's Denial
Prince Andrew continues to deny the allegations tied to the photo.
Andrew has denied the claims and later told the BBC's Emily Maitlis in his car-crash Newsnight interview: "I have absolutely no memory of that photograph. I'm afraid to say that I don't believe that photograph was taken in the way that has been suggested."
Despite his insistence, he paid a reported $15million settlement to Giuffre in 2022 with no admission of wrongdoing.
Churcher said she never doubted the authenticity of the photo, adding: "If it were a hoax, Buckingham Palace never contacted me to say so. Nor did Virginia seek me out. I found her after spending weeks digging into a lawsuit she'd filed against Epstein under the pseudonym 'Jane Doe 102'.
"I was intrigued because the documents said she had been 'sexually exploited by Epstein's adult male peers including royalty."
The Aftermath and Historic Impact
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Giuffre feared Epstein’s powerful circle over the photo being released.
After the picture was handed over, FBI agents interviewed Giuffre at the US Consulate in Sydney.
They scanned both sides of the photograph, confirming it had been developed on March 13, 2001, near her Florida home.
When The Mail on Sunday sent the image to Buckingham Palace before publication, Andrew did not initially dispute it.
Churcher recalled: "When Virginia handed me that photograph, neither she, nor I, could possibly have imagined the juggernaut it would become. I will always remember her courage.
"And I am proud to have played my part in telling her story - and of obtaining the photograph that changed the course of history."
