London police drop Prince Andrew investigation

The Metropolitan Police Service has dropped an investigation into Virginia Roberts Giuffre's allegations of sexual assault against Prince Andrew.

The London police force announced Monday it has concluded its review and that "we are taking no further action," CNN reports.

Giuffre has alleged that Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, forced her to have sex with Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has denied her claims. She filed a lawsuit against him in August, alleging she "feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying" orders to have sex with him because of the "powerful connections, wealth, and authority" of Andrew, Epstein, and Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

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"I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me," Giuffre said at the time. "The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions."

The Metropolitan Police Service reviewed documents released as part of Giuffre's lawsuit, according to CNN. The police force said it "continues to liaise with other law enforcement agencies who lead the investigation into matters related to Jeffrey Epstein." It also said it completed a review into information "passed to us by a media organization" and will take no further action following a Channel 4 report on Maxwell allegedly trafficking, grooming, and abusing victims, The Associated Press reports.

Andrew's lawyers accepted last month that he has been served with legal papers as part of Giuffre's lawsuit after an earlier dispute over the documents, BBC News reports. The British royal stepped back from public duties in 2019 following a widely panned interview, during which he said he regretted associating with Epstein while describing the convicted sex offender's behavior as "unbecoming." He also said in the interview that Giuffre's claims "never happened." According to the AP, Andrew's legal team has until Oct. 29 to file responses to Giuffre's lawsuit.