The Files

On Thursday morning, I awoke to the startling news that the person formerly known as Prince Andrew has been arrested on charges that in addition to participating in a pedophile ring he may have passed sensitive documents onward to Jeffrey Epstein. The startling part is that I never expected that the royal family would cut ties with the best beloved son of the late queen, though the family must have understood for years that Andrew was up to his eyeballs in the muck. Virginia Giuffre was a brave woman and it seems that at last, and only posthumously, she may help bring down a conspiracy of truly disgusting men and their male and female enablers and apologists.

At this point, with his reputation in ruins, Andrew has but one chance at any kind of redemption: stop lying and denying, tell all the truth, name all the names. I don’t care what happens to him as an individual and I abhor the continuing existence of the “royal family,” but this man could do some good in the world by exposing the rotten core of an international pedophile ring in which he participated with gusto. The conspiracy-theory magats had one thing right: there was a dark international pedophile ring, but it wasn’t run by George Soros and Hillary Clinton from the basement of a pizza restaurant in Washington DC, though I am willing to believe that Bill Clinton knows more than he has told so far.

The conspiracy was operating for years in Epstein’s mansion in New York City and his private island in the Caribbean, with satellite recruitment operations at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago until the two fell out over a real estate squabble. It is tragic that the fallout in Europe has been so swift and decisive but here in the United States, the nexus of the evil, our government is doing its best to shrug it off. Just a few people with high-profile positions at large companies have resigned under pressure. It is going to take so much effort by too few principled members of Congress to maintain focus and bring all these wretched people to justice. Too many names are still redacted in the files and our Justice Department is currently run by enablers violating laws passed by Congress. Trump will try any distraction, possibly starting a war with Iran.

Few of my readers here knew me in my final college year, a time of radical feminism on campus. At that time, I was recovering from a sexual assault and was fueled with still unresolved anger and pain. It was hard to see goodness and decency in the world around me, let alone to feel safe. Eventually, I did feel restored enough that I traveled alone in Europe, moved home to New York City where, after some roommate adventures I also chose to live alone. But to this day, I remain cautious and self-guarded in many situations. As a woman, you might never feel truly safe, you just adapt to that understanding that you are not safe and in spite of that you live as bravely as you can.

What is emerging from the files is that there were thousands of beautiful and vulnerable young women, many from Eastern Europe, who were recruited with promises of modeling and acting careers. They were willing to grasp at any chance to come to the United States, land of opportunity. There were certainly stories to encourage them in thinking that with good connections they too could find wealth and fame like Paulina Porizkova. Or Melania. My few encounters as a set stylist in the world of fashion photography revealed both glamour and darkness. I won’t ever forget one young woman who during a lunch break (she didn’t eat any lunch) acknowledged to me that she felt like “just a body,” her individuality of no interest to the photographer or client. I had never quite fathomed how dehumanizing it was to be seen as an assembly of features that could be enhanced by clever stylists: long graceful legs, unblemished skin, a good nose, a head of obedient hair. I had none of these qualities and had always envied women who did. After that encounter, I made more effort to be grateful for what I did have: a healthy body and mind. I bought fewer fashion/beauty magazines marketed to young women who are still learning to love themselves. Now, decades later, I am a target for any/all products aimed at “mature” women. I do not always succeed at resisting such aggressive marketing for skin potions that promise to turn back time or merely arrest it.

When I think about that young model I hope sincerely that she found a more supportive life path. But what we know is that Epstein sought out exactly this type of girl—and I say “girl” because the model I met in question was under the age of 20—as young as possible, without guardians, of a certain physical type. Some, like Giuffre, were raised in situations that made Epstein’s offers especially appealing. He offered money they needed right away, the promise of more money later, and maybe a way to escape to a better life.

As of this afternoon, Bill Gates has cancelled a keynote speech at an AI conference in India. Melinda Gates had the wisdom to step out of Epstein and her husband’s orbit years ago. I expect Bill Gates will continue to deny any involvement with Russian women, but perhaps there will come a time when he too will be humbled by facts and by women who have been waiting too long for justice.

THANK YOU for reading and I’d love to hear from you! More posts on Fridays at noon. I hope you’ll subscribe (paid subscriptions help support independent writing on Substack!) and share with other readers. A free and open press has never been more important, especially as we experience life under an administration in Washington that is no friend to writers or readers.

You can find out more about my memoirs Perfection and Eva and Eve here and purchase here.

I work privately with memoir writers. You can reach out via my website: juliemetz.com.