Prince Andrew has reached a legal settlement with a woman who alleges she was 17 when she was sexually abused by the British royal, according to a legal filing made public Tuesday.
The move came more than a month after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan for the Southern District of New York rejected Andrew’s bid to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre.
“Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement,” David Boies, Giuffre’s lawyer, said in a letter filed to the court.
“The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms. Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).”
Giuffre has long alleged she was trafficked to Andrew, son of Queen Elizabeth II, by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his recently-convicted confidant, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the letter, Andrew said that he would make a “substantial” donation to Giuffre’s victims rights group and that he “never intended to malign” her character.
“It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years,” the letter states. “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.”
A representative for Andrew declined to comment on the latest development.
A Buckingham Palace official also declined to comment, saying, “It is a matter for the Duke and his legal team.”
Giuffre, who lives in Australia, alleges Epstein and Maxwell forced her in the 1990s to have sex with Andrew when she was underage, an allegation both the prince and Maxwell have repeatedly denied.
So did Epstein, who hanged himself in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
Andrew, via his lawyers, tried and failed several times to derail Giuffre’s lawsuit.
First they tried to argue that the suit should be dismissed because Giuffre no longer lives in the United States, but Kaplan disagreed.
Then, Andrew’s lawyers released details of a legal settlement in which she took $500,000 from Epstein in 2009 not to bring further legal action.
Kaplan said that the prince’s efforts to bring up the settlement were premature.
The day after the ruling, Buckingham Palace signaled it was distancing itself from the controversial case by announcing that Andrew would no longer use the style “His Royal Highness” in any official capacity.
“The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen,” it said.
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