The closest confidante of Virginia Giuffre said Prince Andrew’s accuser appeared to have found her calling in life as she designed a refuge to be built on her farm, only to then suddenly die at her own hand.
Having seemed to have finally found peace surrounded by nature in rural Australia, the 41-year-old locked in builders to construct a safe haven for domestic violence victims and rescued animals.
Her ‘mother figure’ Cheryl Myers had been employed as Giuffre’s carer for more than a year and was by her side throughout her ‘messy divorce’ proceedings as well as the school bus crash controversy in the months before her death.
Myers says she loved Giuffre ‘like a daughter’ and will never get over losing the woman whose accusations of being sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Prince Andrew and others had rocked the world
‘She loved her mum, but I showed her another side while he mother wasn’t there. I was a mother figure, we became more than a carer relationship,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I left her with a family member the night before, we kissed and hugged goodbye at the door as usual and then I got a call on Friday night.
‘Like the rest of the world, I don’t know how and I don’t know why.
‘She was happy, her mental state was there, she was strong… but also I can understand.’
Virginia Giuffre was last seen in public being driven by her brother Danny Wilson close to her farmhouse just over a fortnight before her death
Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations but reportedly paid her millions to settle a lawsuit over her claims against him.
The famous photo of the teenage girl then known as Virginia Roberts with Prince Andrew and Epstein’s now jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell lent weight to her accusations of being trafficked to Prince Andrew when she was just 17.
The Royal has always denied the allegations but reportedly paid her millions to settle a lawsuit over her claims against him.
Giuffre took her own life last week at her farmhouse in Neergabby, north of Perth, after the ‘toll of abuse… became unbearable’, according to her family.
‘She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,’ her loved ones said in a statement after her body was discovered.
Giuffre and Myer’s shared love of animals drew them together as they ran the $1.3 million hobby farm, and Myers cherishes the private memories of woman who was more than just that famed whistleblower.
‘She loved to lay on the grass and watch the stars at night, she didn’t believe in shooting kangaroos, and she fed the foxes too.
‘The kangaroos use to come right up to her and she kept all the fruit on the trees for them.
‘She was happy on the farm, it was her lifelong dream that abused woman and animals would have somewhere to feel safe like she did.’
Giuffre had big plans for the family picturesque farm (above)
Myers will now cherish the side to Giuffre that was not widely known.
Cheryl Myers hopes her close friend’s legacy will be continued
But despite finding solace in her new life away from the headlines and the trauma of her teenage years, Giuffre was not totally at peace.
She had become estranged from her three children, who were not even able to visit her during her most recent hospital stay or even text her, due to strict court orders.
The devastating situation meant that she had not seen or heard from them in the lead up to her death.
‘She was a really good mother, she was an exceptional mother and she loved her children,’ said Myers.
‘Of course she found that separation so hard to deal with.’
Her death came just weeks after she said on social media she only had four days to live following a car crash, together with pictures of her bruised and battered in a hospital bed.
When it emerged that the accident was a very minor one, and she was discharged from hospital days later, seemingly unscathed, many questioned her honesty.
Some went as far as the say it cast doubt upon what she had said about her association with Epstein and her accusations against Prince Andrew.
After being discharged from hospital days later, seemingly unscathed, Giuffre faced backlash with many questioning her trustworthiness especially around her accusations against Prince Andrew.
She had a whirlwind romance with the martial arts instructor Robert and they married within a week in 2002
Describing her dear friend as ‘kind and generous,’ Myers went on to share many precious moments she will hold dear.
‘She did not lie about anything, I can say that with complete conviction,’ Myers said.
‘Everything she said was true and how it was put to her at the hospital, that’s all true.
‘I haven’t even fixed my car, I was so concerned about Virginia and everything that was happening. I just put her first.’
Describing her dear friend as ‘kind and generous,’ Myers went on to share many precious moments she will hold dear.
She was always giving people tips and buying people things, she would go shopping and fill the trolley with things for me and I’d take them out when she wasn’t looking,’
‘I didn’t need things from her, she didn’t need things from me, but she was so loved.
‘Virginia was psychic and she was into the number 11 and we would look at each other and she would say ‘what’s the time?’ and it would be 11 minutes past three.
‘Then later again at 11 minutes past six she would say the same. 11 is an angel number and she was very spiritual.
While she was separated from her husband, Robert Giuffre, the pair were not officially divorced.
It is not known how Giuffre estate will now be divided or if she even had a will.
While she was separated from her husband, Robert Giuffre, the pair were not officially divorced.
Giuffre escaped Epstein’s clutches after meeting her husband-to-be while on a massage training course in Thailand that Epstein had paid for.
She had a whirlwind romance with the martial arts instructor and they married within a week in 2002 before moving to the NSW Central Coast in Australia and setting up home together.
They lived there for 11 years before moving to the US, until they returned to Australia and bought a $1.7million six-bedroom beachside mansion in Perth in 2020.
The marriage is believed to have broken down last year, with Giuffre moving into their weekend getaway farmhouse while her husband remained in Perth with their children
Myers says she has been left grief stricken by her death but holds hope that Giuffre’s legacy and work with survivors will be continued.
‘It’s what she would have wanted, absolutely no doubt in my mind about that,’ she said.
‘I don’t think I’m going to recover from this now, I lost my husband not long ago and she filled that gap – I didn’t pick her, she picked me.
‘I don’t know where she is or had the chance to say my goodbyes. That’s been very hard for me to deal with.’
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