Virginia Giuffre’s family call for a coronial Inquest into her death

Virginia Giuffre’s family are calling for a coronial inquest into her death, which occurred while she was fighting domestic violence accusations in court.

Ms Giuffre took her own life aged 41 at a farm she owned north of Perth in April 2025 after years of fighting for justice to see US sex trafficker Jeffrey Esptein prosecuted.

She alleged Epstein trafficked her to have sex with former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and other prominent figures across the globe when she was a teenager.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied the claims and has never been charged with any criminal offences but was sued by Ms Giuffre for sexual abuse in 2021.

He reached an out-of-court settlement with her.

Ms Giuffre died six months before her powerful memoir Nobody’s Girl was released, documenting years of horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her father before she was recruited by Epstein conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

Despite being a powerful advocate for sexual abuse victims for many years, Ms Giuffre was accused of breaching a domestic violence-related order before her death.

Her family argue systematic failures let her down.

Her brother and sister-in-law Sky and Amanda Roberts wrote to West Australian Coroner Rosalinda Fogliani requesting a coronial inquest into her death.

Ms Roberts said Ms Giuffre was a global figure, but her brothers lost a piece of themselves when she died and would never recover.

“That emotional toll of losing a sibling itself is already a layer that changes your life, you can never look at life the same losing someone that close to you,” she told ABC Perth. “Then the layer of her legacy and her impact, and what her voice means to the world, taking on that mantle.

“It’s been a very difficult year just trying to navigate how we can do the best for her, for her children and for the legacy that she’s left behind and making sure that it stays intact.”

Mr Roberts told ABC Perth his sister spoke very openly in her memoir about the types of abuse she endured from a very young age right up until her death.

“It’s incredibly difficult to talk about, but you know how brave of her to come forward and share that with the world,” he said.

“That was such a private thing to be able to come forward, but when she wrote that book I remember her telling me, ‘If I’m going to tell the world my story, I have to tell them everything and I have to explain why because abuse cannot be fit inside a box’.

“It started at a young age with my father, and then it carried on until she was 15 years old and started to be pimped out to different people around Palm Beach.

“She got out of a bad situation and then she stepped into another one when she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago, and the rest of the story kind of tells itself with the Epstein stories that everybody’s very familiar with.

“But you have to realise there’s a human behind that, and the impact that it takes on that person to carry on day after day after day, and that’s why many in the sexual abuse community look up to Virginia because she spoke out so clearly and so strong.”

The couple wrote to the coroner outlining the events that led to Ms Giuffre’s death, arguing those circumstances needed consideration about why she took her own life.

Ms Roberts said they had many questions around systematic failures after Ms Giuffre started to speak publicly against her domestic violence.

“We really laid out a lot of questions that we initially had the weeks before her passing and the circumstances that happened before then that led up to her taking her own life,” she said.

“They did reach out with their condolences, and they were very responsive in taking into what we said into consideration.

“They have not come with a formal review or action with her passing yet, they stated that it could take some more time, they are still waiting for police reports.”

The family’s request has also been supported by domestic violence researchers and coroners who also wrote to Ms Fogliani calling for an inquest.

Mr Roberts said he loved that they stated Virginia was just one of many, but she was a very public figure.

“The only thing that’s unusual about this is the fact that there’s documentation leading up to her death that we can use so that thousands and thousands of other women and children can be saved moving forward,” he said.

“That’s what Virginia would want, is a thorough investigation into the systematic failures in Australia, here in the United States, across the UK.

“The systematic failures that have happened to sexual abuse victims time and time again and domestic violence victims time and time again.”

A Coroner’s Court spokesman acknowledged that families of the deceased deserved sensitivity and respect for their privacy and said the court did not provide information publicly on a matter that is being investigated.

“The court can confirm this particular matter is still actively under investigation,” the spokesman said.