Amy Wallace had just watched the Netflix doco, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, about the convicted multi-millionaire sex offender, when she got a life-changing phone call.
Virginia Giuffre, one of the victim survivors of Epstein and his fixer, Ghislaine Maxwell, was looking for a memoir writer and Amy, a California-based journalist and author, was top of the list.
“I was particularly struck by her in the documentary and I knew she had an important cause,” Amy tells Woman’s Day.
The pair met and quickly developed the bond needed for what became the four-year project to write Virginia’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl.
“She was wonderful – warm, very smart and funny, and she loved fiercely,” Amy says.
It’s a side to the mother of three, who lived outside Perth in Neergabby, not often seen. Instead, she is most known for the damning photo of her as a teenager alongside the former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – a man she had accused of raping her.
GLOBAL COVER-UP
Although the most prominent, Andrew was not the first. Virginia testified that between the ages of 16 and 19 she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex with a succession of rich, powerful and much older men.
Andrew denied the allegations, settling a civil suit with Virginia in 2022 – but made no admission of guilt.
As Amy delved into the deeply disturbing story, she heard the names of many men still not made public. Some, but not all, were revealed in the January release of the Epstein files and she’s feeling shocked all over again.
“Wealthy, powerful men were raping children – there’s no other way to talk about it,” she says. “It’s disgusting for those women and it’s disgusting that it’s part of our culture, that women and girls are used to provide leisure for men. Misogyny exists.”
Tragically, Virginia was not around for the release of her book or to see the public outcry that occurred as a result of the recent Epstein file release. In April 2025, aged 41, she took her own life, having struggled with her self worth for decades.
“It was hard to publish without her, but we knew it was her wish,” Amy says, having received an email from Virginia discussing this before her death. “I wish she could have benefitted from having her story told in her voice, and had the chance to hear and read the feedback I’ve had.
“I hope one day her children will read the book because her love for them is so evident. It will also show them what she was dealing with and that the reason she did some of the hard things was for them. It’s my private hope the book will help them.”
If she was still here, Amy also thinks the public pressure to have the Epstein files released, and for the royals to take more decisive action against Andrew, would have been very gratifying for Virginia.
“It’s a huge deal and unprecedented in Britain, and it’s only because of people saying they are sick of wealthy, powerful people getting away with it,” Amy says, adding that Virginia wanted Andrew to go to jail, and yet he continues to refuse to go to the US to face justice.
VIRGINIA’S LEGACY
“She wished he could be prosecuted criminally, but that was not in her power to make happen. Her only recourse was the civil suit,” she explains, adding this was about shedding light on what happened rather than the money.
Virginia’s other wish was to extend the time frame in which someone can be accused in a civil sexual abuse case. It’s now a bill, called Virginia’s Law, that her family are working on, and that is something Amy says she would be incredibly proud of.
“We all have to speak up – not just the survivors and the lawyers but all of us,” Amy says. “If this is not the world we want to live in, it will change if we keep telling them and that’s important. Virginia would be buoyed by that.”
Amy Wallace is on the Inside The Epstein Files panel at the All About Women festival at the Sydney Opera House on March 8. For tickets, visit sydneyoperahouse.com
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