The Duke of York, in his role as colonel of the Grenadier Guards, at a memorial in Bruges to mark the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of the Belgian town.
Jonathan Brady | PA Images | Getty Images
A lawsuit accusing Britain’s Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting an underage girl while she was under the control of sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and his procurer Ghislaine Maxwell has been settled out of court, a court filing revealed Tuesday.
The sum of the money that Andrew has agreed to pay his accuser Virginia Giuffre was not disclosed in the filing, which also said the prince also will make “a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.”
The bombshell development came in Manhattan federal court, where Andrew had failed in attempts to get the suit by Giuffre tossed out, and after he had been stripped of military titles and other honorifics related to being a member of Britain’s royal family.
The tentative settlement means the lawsuit is expected to be dismissed soon by the judge in the case. Andrew had denied Giuffre’s allegations that he sexually abused her at various locations, and in the court filing Tuesday there was no indication that he had wavered in that denial.
But the settlement will spare Andrew the further ignominy of being forced to answer questions under oath for depositions in the case, and face a public trial in New York that would have drawn massive media attention.
The deal comes less than two months after Maxwell was convicted in the same courthouse of procuring other underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, an investment manager who killed himself in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal child sex trafficking charges.
Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislain Maxwell.
Source: Attained through court documents.
In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, Giuffre’s high-powered lawyer David Boies wrote, “We write jointly with counsel for defendant to advise the Court that the parties reached a settlement in principle of the above-referenced action.”
“The parties anticipate filing a stipulation of dismissal of the case within thirty (30) days,” Boies wrote. “In the interim, the parties request that the Court suspend all deadlines and hold the action in abeyance.”
A document referenced in the letter, which was attached to the filing, said, “Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement.”
“The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms. Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed). Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in
support of victims’ rights.”
“Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms.Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks. It is known that Jeffrey
Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years,” the statement says.
“Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others. He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”
Andrew was one of Epstein’s many rich, powerful and high-profile friends over the years.
Epstein also had long-standing friendships with former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton before he pleaded guilty to Florida state charges in 2009, which included paying an underage girl for sexual services.
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