Ashley James broke down in tears on This Morning while discussing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.
On Friday’s episode of the ITV show, Ashley was among a panel of guests discussing the disgrace royal being arrested yesterday.
After watching a short clip of Virginia Giuffre’s family, she said dabbing tears from her eyes: ‘I felt very emotional watching this actually. There’s a reason I feel so upset about it.
‘So many of us have watched the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein try to get justice and I felt a huge sense of relief yesterday watching Andrew be arrested.
‘Of course, his arrest is about state matters and not about the alleged sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre, who of course is no longer here.
‘I think the fact that it took so long and she is no longer here for justice to be served.
Speaking on today’s This Morning, Ashley James became visibly emotional while discussing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest
Ashley appeared on the ITV show alongside Gyles Brandreth, Lorraine Royal Editor Russell Myers as well as presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary
Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond presented Friday’s episode of This Morning
‘And as Virginia’s brother said yesterday, this feels like the thread that is slowly starting to be unravelled.
‘Hopefully we will see accountability. It feels so personal for lots of women and girls watching this, because the atrocities linked to Jeffrey Epstein and not only was part of that, but also knew about it.’
Taking to Instagram later on Friday, Ashley posted a photo of her crying to her story.
She captioned: ‘Accurate footage of me on @thismorning today.
‘My third time crying on live TV but sometimes I think tears show we f*cling care and we should all be in tears.’
On Thursday, the Daily Mail was the first to reveal how plain-clothed police, carried in six unmarked vehicles, had arrived at Wood Farm, where Andrew now lives.
Andrew was subsequently arrested on his 66th birthday. Thames Valley Police held the eighth in line to the British throne on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
A convoy including at least two royal Land Rovers linked to Andrew was photographed leaving the estate less than an hour later. His arrest was confirmed at 10.08am.
Detectives have been probing his conduct as a trade envoy for the UK after emails in the Epstein Files suggested he shared confidential information with his paedophile friend including reports of his official visits and potential investment opportunities.
A Thames Valley spokesman said: ‘We have today arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office.’
Earlier this month, Ashley revealed for the first time that she was raped by a male friend when she was a 21-year-old student at Nottingham University.
She recounted her rape in her new book, Bimbo, explaining it occurred after a night out at a club with pals, and she’d been unconscious.
Andrew is pictured leaving Aylsham police station in Norfolk shortly after 7pm on Thursday
Writing how the assault had been ‘one of the very worst moments of my life’, she described ‘the shame and silence’ she lived with afterwards and voiced her hope it would ‘change the conversation’ around rape and victim blaming.
Ashley explained she didn’t report what happened because her attacker had been a friend rather than ‘a stranger in a dark alley’, which made it harder for her to accept he was a rapist, and as a result she turned the blame inwards.
In a chapter entitled Silly Girl – to reference to the way in which victims are dismissed and blame – she wrote: ‘It’s something I’ve never spoken about and yet I’ve thought about it every day since, increasingly so since having children.
‘It was one of the very worst moments of my life. It was hugely traumatic. I’m not telling the story to shock but as a mirror to show how common these experiences are – and also how broken the support system is.’
The former Made In Chelsea star went on: ‘I didn’t come forward. Not because I thought the police wouldn’t believe me, or that the courts would fail me, but because the man wasn’t a stranger in a dark alley. He was a friend.
‘And because of that, the only person I blamed was myself. For years. Even after it happened, I was more worried about him not liking me than I was about my own trauma. I was worried he’d tell other people and everyone would think I was a s**g.
‘So I didn’t tell anyone, and I even tried to stay friends with him. Even now I find it hard to think about him as a rapist. Even though that’s what he was, because I wasn’t asking for it. In fact, I was unconscious.
‘I’d worry about ruining his life. Yes, I was drunk. Yes, I was wearing going-out clothes, having come from a club. But I was with friends — people I trusted.’
‘We don’t teach girls that, one day, if they get the chance, their male friends might try to rape them…’ Ashely continued. ‘It doesn’t matter what you are wearing [or] if you had zero drinks or 1,000 drinks.’