Prince Andrew, the disgraced younger brother of Britain’s heir to the throne, has reached a settlement in a New York civil lawsuit concerning allegations of s**ual abuse.
The survivor, Virginia Giuffre, accused the royal of abusing her when she was a minor and claimed that she was trafficked by the notorious financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Attorney David Boies, who represents Giuffre, announced the settlement, although the exact amount remains undisclosed.
Giuffre filed the lawsuit against the Duke of York in August 2021, alleging that he s**ually abused her multiple times in 2001, when she was just 17 years old and under the control of Epstein’s s** trafficking ring.
She also stated that she was introduced to Prince Andrew during her travels with Epstein between 2000 and 2002, where she was allegedly used for s**ual purposes and lent out to other powerful men.
The lawsuit included a widely circulated photograph of Giuffre posing with Andrew at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home, which she claims was taken before nonconsensual s** took place.
Prince Andrew, aged 61, vehemently denied Giuffre’s allegations.
The settlement letter, signed solely by Giuffre’s attorney, acknowledged the resolution of the case.
Furthermore, the prince, who had previously stepped back from royal duties, was stripped of his honorary military roles and royal patronages after Judge Kaplan advanced Giuffre’s case.
In a statement attached to the settlement letter, representatives for Prince Andrew expressed his regret for associating with Epstein and pledged to support the fight against s** trafficking.
They also clarified that the prince never intended to tarnish Giuffre’s character and recognized the hardships she endured as a victim of abuse.
As a sign of remorse, Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Giuffre’s charity that supports victims’ rights.
Living in the Royal Lodge at Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, Prince Andrew claimed to have no recollection of meeting Giuffre during a 2019 interview with the BBC.
Despite stating his willingness to cooperate with U.S. authorities investigating Epstein, he provided no cooperation according to Geoffrey Berman, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Giuffre alleged that Epstein recruited her into his s** trafficking operation while she was working at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
She continues to suffer significant emotional and psychological distress as a result of the abuse.
The s**ual encounters involving Prince Andrew reportedly took place at Epstein’s New York mansion, on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and at Maxwell’s London home.
Giuffre has been involved in a separate defamation battle with Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor emeritus, in the Southern District of New York.
She settled a defamation suit against Maxwell in 2017 but did not testify in Maxwell’s recent criminal trial.
Maxwell’s attorneys have requested a retrial due to a juror’s failure to disclose his personal history of s**ual abuse during jury selection.
Judge Kaplan previously suggested that a trial in Giuffre’s lawsuit against Prince Andrew could take place between September and December 2022.
Boies’ letter indicated that the parties anticipate filing a stipulation of dismissal within 30 days and requested the suspension of all deadlines and actions in the case.
