EXCLUSIVE: Months before police announced they were 'actively looking' into allegations Prince Andrew asked his bodyguard to 'dig up dirt' on his sex abuse accuser, I tried to lock him up
Prince Andrew could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail after the emergence of allegations he asked a bodyguard to "dig up dirt" on his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre. Long before the Metropolitan Police announced they were "actively looking" into the claims, I took matters into my own hands.
Fed-up with the glacial pace of justice, I decided to take a symbolic "Prince Andrew" to the Tower of London so he could be locked up like other royals before him - Anne Boleyn (Henry VIIII's second wife), Lady Jane Grey (the nine days queen who was executed after a brief reign) and Elizabeth I.
The heavy 7ft pub sign had been pulled off the facade of a central London boozer in April by an embarrassed new landlord. Your Daily Star managed to rescue the oversized portrait before asking our readers what to do with it.
The most popular choice was lock him up in the Tower of London followed by treating it to a meal at Pizza Express and letting the public throw lettuces and tomatoes at it.
On a sunny April morning, I loaded our "too honourable" cargo on board a man-powered cycle truck. I can still recall a single bead of sweat rolling down the troublesome Prince's face as we neared the Tower of London.
However, my mission had to be aborted when Tower of London guards stopped my progress. While my attempt to serve some symbolic justice failed, the real thing may be fast approaching Prince Andrew.
Lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represented nine victims of Epstein, has warned Prince Andrew may face a potential US criminal probe for allegedly sharing Giuffre's Social Security number without her consent. In the US this carries a maximum jail term of 20 years. Andrew denies all wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew's "team" allegedly attempted to hire "internet trolls to hassle" Giuffre, according to other claims in her posthumous memoirs. Giuffre's accusations are detailed in her book Nobody's Girl, a distressing account of her life.
She also recounts being dressed in outfits reminiscent of her idols Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera for her alleged initial meeting with Prince Andrew when she was 17. Despite asserting that he had never met her, Andrew paid millions to Giuffre to settle a civil sexual assault case.
Giuffre described how he concealed himself behind "the well-guarded gates" of Balmoral Castle, making it challenging for her lawyers to serve him with papers.