Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre reportedly faced legal trouble days before being involved in a bus accident.
Giuffre, 41, was in court after breaching a family violence restraining order 10 days before publicly sharing details of her apparent car accident, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday, April 1. The publication claimed that Giuffre appeared in court near Perth, Australia, which is also where her accident took place. (Giuffre currently lives in Australia.)
A subsequent report, published by the U.K.’s The Telegraph newspaper, said Giuffre’s alleged breach took place in February. She’s set to return to court on April 9. (Giuffre is allegedly estranged from husband Robert Giuffre, with whom she shares three children.)
News of Giuffre’s court appearance comes amid her hospitalization following a bus accident. Giuffre took to Instagram on Sunday, March 30, and claimed that she had only “four days to live” following the accident.
“This year has been the worst start to a new year, but I won’t bore anyone with the details but I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn that no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can,” she captioned the social media post. Giuffre shared a photo of herself in what appeared to be a hospital bed with a black eye.
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Local police have since confirmed that there was a “minor crash” between a car and a school bus on March 24, but no injuries were reported at the scene.
“The collision was reported by the bus driver the following day,” police told People in a statement on Tuesday. “The car sustained approximately $2,000 worth of damage.”
The Telegraph obtained a statement released by Giuffre’s family on Monday, March 31.
“She’s not doing good. She’s depressed because she misses her kids,” her father told the publication. The next day, they released a lengthier statement regarding the crash and addressed Giuffre’s social media post.
“On March 24, in rural Western Australia, a school bus hit the car in which she was riding. The police were called, but said that there was no one available to come to the scene. They asked if anyone was injured and suggested that if they were, they should make their way to the hospital,” the statement claimed. “The school bus driver had a bus full of distraught children and left the scene to get them back, saying he would file a police report, which he did later. Virginia was banged up and bruised and returned home.”
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The statement explained that Giuffre’s “condition worsened” and she went to the hospital.
“Concerning her Instagram post, Virginia thought that she had posted on her private Facebook page,” the statement concluded. “Virginia and her family thank everyone for their concern.”
Giuffre previously made headlines when she accused Prince Andrew of sexual misconduct through the royal family member’s connection with late billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. She and Andrew settled for an undisclosed sum out of court in 2022.
