Prince Andrew settles US civil sex assault case with Virginia Giuffre
Image source, Virginia RobertsPrince Andrew has settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.
A letter filed to the US district court on Tuesday said the duke and Ms Giuffre had reached an out-of-court settlement.
It said the duke would pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre.
His representatives said he had no comment beyond what was said in the document filed to the court. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the settlement.
In a letter to US judge Lewis A Kaplan, Ms Giuffre's lawyer David Boies wrote jointly with Prince Andrew's lawyers to say the pair had reached "a settlement in principle".
A statement included with the letter read: "The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre's receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).
It said the duke would make a "substantial donation to Ms Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights".
Prince Andrew, the statement added, had "never intended to malign Ms Giuffre's character" and he recognised she had "suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks".
The duke also pledged to "demonstrate his regret for his association" with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the "fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims".
He also commended the "bravery of Ms Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others".
Prince Andrew makes no admission of liability.
Responding to the settlement, Mr Boies told the PA News agency: "I believe this event speaks for itself."
Ms Giuffre, now 38, claimed she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by financier Epstein from the age of 16. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.
She said part of the abuse saw her lent out to powerful men, including Prince Andrew, who is the third child of the Queen and ninth in line to the throne.
Ms Giuffre claimed the duke, 61, sexually assaulted her on three occasions - at Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London, in Epstein's mansion in New York and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.
The deal struck between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre means averting the royal disaster zone of a court battle in New York in the autumn.
Even though the amounts are not being disclosed, this will come at a very significant financial cost to the prince.
But there is also the reputational cost. Prince Andrew, whose legal team had been attacking Ms Giuffre's claims, has signed up to a statement acknowledging her as a "victim of abuse" and commending her "bravery".
The deal avoids any suggestion of Prince Andrew being personally involved in wrongdoing, but it also says nothing about removing the accusations that Ms Giuffre made against him.
It means this damaging civil court case is over and the jubilee year won't be clouded by damaging headlines.
But Prince Andrew has ended up paying up and expressing regret, rather than clearing his name.
In an 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Prince Andrew said he had no memory of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and said her account of their London meeting and sex at a house in Belgravia "didn't happen".
In January, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the civil action over him could go ahead.
Image source, ReutersBuckingham Palace later announced that Prince Andrew's military titles and royal patronages had been returned to the Queen. A royal source said he would also stop using the title His Royal Highness in an official capacity.
Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing several of Epstein's accusers, welcomed the duke's settlement as a "victory" for Ms Giuffre.
In a statement on Twitter on behalf of her clients, she wrote: "We hail Virginia's victory today. She has accomplished what no-one else could: getting Prince Andrew to stop his nonsense and side with sexual abuse victims. We salute Virginia's stunning courage."
In December last year, Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Last month, the former British socialite officially requested a retrial after a juror in the case told the media he used his own experience of being sexually abused to influence jurors reaching a verdict.
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