Prince Andrew reaches settlement with sexual abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre
Virginia says the Duke of York sexually abused her on three occasions
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Prince Andrew has settled a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by accuser Virginia Giuffre in Manhattan federal court – dodging a potentially embarrassing trial slated for the fall, according to a new filing.
"We write jointly with counsel for defendant to advise the Court that the parties reached a settlement," Giuffre's attorney David Boies wrote in a letter Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Virginia Giuffre has long alleged she was abused by the Duke of York when she was underage. (Getty Images)
The letter added that the parties plan to file a stipulation of dismissal within 30 days after Giuffre receives her payout.
The court papers say the settlement sum will not be disclosed but added that Queen Elizabeth II's middle son will also make a substantial donation to 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," the letter states.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years. Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others," the filing continues.
In the civil suit filed in August, Giuffre alleges that she was sexually abused by the Duke of York on three occasions when she was under 18 at the behest of the late financier and disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The civil case, in which Giuffre alleges battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, was scheduled to go to trial in the fall of 2022.
Photo from 2001 that was included in court files showing Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre. Ghislaine Maxwell is in the background. (Florida Southern District Court) (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
The settlement agreement comes before Giuffre's legal team was set to depose Robert Ashton Olney, the prince's former royal assistant known as an equerry.
His name and number appear in Epstein’s phone book under "Duke of York," and the ex-aide may have known details of the royal's travels and appointments in the early 2000s when Guiffre alleges the abuse occurred, according to her lawyers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Giuffre's team also planned to question Shukri Walker, who has stated publicly that she saw Prince Andrew with a woman who may have been Giuffre at Tramp nightclub in London. Giuffre has said she danced with Prince Andrew at the club before he forced her to have sex with him at Maxwell's London flat.
Undated evidence photo showing Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. (SDNY)
In a widely panned BBC interview in 2019, the Duke claimed he never met the teen.
Prince Andrew has denied the allegations, which have cost him dearly, and kept his unseemly former friendship with Epstein and Maxwell in the spotlight. In the wake of the scandal, he was forced to give up his public duties and royal patronages.
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Giuffre has been one of Epstein and Maxwell's most vocal accusers. Epstein, a convicted pedophile, was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on serious sex crimes charges.
Maxwell was convicted in December of sex trafficking and other charges for recruiting and grooming young women to be abused by Epstein. But her conviction could be overturned over allegations of juror misconduct.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesperson for Giuffre and Prince Andrew's Los Angeles-based lawyer did not immediately return requests for comment.