11
A seismic shock
A photograph taken by the NOAA GOES-West satellite on Jan. 15 and obtained via NASA shows
a huge eruption from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, just
40 miles from the island nation of Tonga. In a Jan. 18 statement, Tonga’s government called
the eruption, which unleashed clouds of ash and tsunami waves reportedly as high as 15 m,
an “unprecedented disaster.” —Madeleine Carlisle
THE BULLETIN
Prince Andrew’s royal mess forces the Palace’s hand
Queen elizabeth’s second son was
barely mentioned during the December
trial of Ghislaine Maxwell on charges of
sex trafficking minors, which ended with a
guilty verdict Dec. 29. But Prince Andrew,
a former friend of late sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein, faces a reckoning of his own in a
civil case brought against him by Virginia
Giuffre, Epstein’s most outspoken accuser.
Giuffre alleges Epstein and his then girl-
friend Maxwell groomed, abused and
forced her to have sex with powerful men.
Andrew, she alleges, was one of them.
CIVIL CASE Giuffre, 38, is suing Andrew
under a New York State law that allows
victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek
justice outside the standard statute of limi-
tations. Andrew has repeatedly denied Gi-
uffre’s allegations, and claimed in a 2019
interview with the BBC that he had “no rec-
ollection” of meeting her. His lawyers made
several attempts to have the case thrown
out before a Manhattan judge ruled on
Jan. 12 that it could proceed to trial.
IN DISGRACE Following the judge’s deci-
sion, Buckingham Palace released a state-
ment on Jan. 13 saying the Queen had
stripped her son of his military titles and
his honorary patronages—Andrew will no
longer be referred to as His Royal Highness.
Implying a more permanent separation, the
Palace added that Andrew (who stepped
back from public-facing duties in 2019,
when the scandal first hit) would be “de-
fending this case as a private citizen.”
NEXT STEPS Andrew could seek to settle
out of court with Giuffre. This would not
necessarily make him liable, but might
cost him a hefty sum. If the case does go to
court, he could face further embarrassment,
as Giuffre and other victims of Epstein
might be called to testify. The case now
moves to discovery, which usually involves
sworn interviews. However it proceeds,
it has already thrown a shadow over the
Queen’s platinum jubilee—her 70-year
anniversary on the British throne.
—eloise baRRY
NEWS TICKER
asked to be
released at a Jan.
hearing.
remov-
ing its statue of U.S.
President Teddy Roo-
sevelt,
declined for the
fifth straight year in
2021.
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