‘Thoughts’ for Epstein victims from royals have come far too late

Giuffre, whose extraordinary strength and bravery led to the downfall of William’s uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, did not live to see the latest release of the Epstein Files, or the seismic impact of their release on British politics. She died by suicide last April.

Royal “concern” has come much too late. The statement – although brief, and not mentioning any names – is seen as significant given the fresh disclosure of grim correspondence between Epstein and the former duke and duchess of York. There can be no more glossing over the links between the sex offender and the desperate, grasping, entitled, sycophantic royals.

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Of course, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and the countless depraved men in their circle had many, many other victims, and we will never know all of their names or even how many of them are still alive.

As more evidence emerges about the tactics used, the sexual violence inflicted and the suffering caused, most victims will not want to be in the thoughts of the rich and powerful – the very category of people whose privilege extends to being able to rape young women on demand. Instead, they will want to be left in peace to try to recover from the trauma they have suffered.

For a long time, Giuffre herself was one of them. After she escaped from what she calls the “invisible chains” that kept her under Epstein’s control, she built a new life, moved to another continent, and started a family.

The first she knew of an investigation was when she received a phone call out of the blue from her abusers, who wanted assurances she would not talk to investigators.

When an investigator did call, her first instinct was to assume it was actually someone paid by Epstein to pretend to be from the FBI.

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Her paranoia was not misplaced. While it was indeed the FBI who were getting in touch with her, she already knew the huge power and influence Epstein wielded.

He had already demonstrated that he was above the law when multiple charges of unlawful sex acts with a minor were reduced to a single count of soliciting prostitution and a sentence of just 18 months in prison. He was not even “in prison” during most of that time, as from 8am to 8pm he was permitted to “work” from the office of a non-profit organisation that it appears he founded solely as a get-out-of-jail-free ruse.

Many accounts of Giuffre’s story refer vaguely to her “troubled childhood”, but her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl elaborates on the circumstances that led to her being so vulnerable to abuse.

While so much of her life was extraordinary, the account that she provides of her childhood – while devastating – is not so unusual.

She alleges she was not only sexually abused by her father from the age of seven, but that her father also facilitated her further abuse by one of his friends. Her father denies the claims, but it is beyond dispute that the previously happy child – devoted to her younger brother and her beloved pet horse – became an unhappy teenager and a runaway.

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It was her father who helped get her a job as a spa attendant during a brief period of stability. This is where the story begins to take a stranger-than-fiction turn, as father and daughter were both working at Mar-a-Lago, the resort owned by Donald Trump. It was from here that Maxwell recruited Giuffre to “work” for Epstein.

This is also where Giuffre’s story, and those of so many girls and young women like her, can become hard to understand. She describes going to Epstein’s house on the premise of being employed as a masseuse, but being molested during her very first encounter with him. Nevertheless, she returned. The situation was presented as normal. She remained under the spell of Epstein and Maxwell for two years.

It’s easy to say now, with all the information we have, that our thoughts are with the victims of Epstein, but it’s very clear to see why those victims and others like them would keep quiet. Not just out of fear of retribution from their abusers, but also for fear of how they would be perceived.

Why did they keep returning, knowing they would be abused? The question that is so often asked of abuse victims: if things were so bad, why did you stay?

Giuffre has described the pair as “masterminds at manipulation”, and it’s clear they were selective about their targets. Girls like Virginia who had already been abused were practised at disassociating, disconnecting, enduring pain, indignity and humiliation. This very coping mechanism would also make them unreliable witnesses to their own abuse, in the unlikely event they had the strength to testify.

Against all these odds, Giuffre spoke out. She later acknowledged there were gaps in her memory and some inconsistencies in her accounts. She was an “imperfect victim” who could be discredited by those with expensive lawyers. She will have known that if, for example, a powerful man like Prince Andrew tried to “dig up dirt” on her, he might well find some.

But she persevered, as she could not bear to think of Epstein being free to abuse others. She succeeded in saving others from harm.

Tragically, in the end, she could not save herself.