Prince Andrew settles with sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre
February 15, 2022
By Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Andrew has settled a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager and also being abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The settlement, including an undisclosed payment, was revealed in a joint filing in Manhattan federal court, where Giuffre had sued Queen Elizabeth’s second son last August.
It spares Andrew from a potentially embarrassing series of disclosures and accusations in the months leading up to and during a trial, which was slated to begin late this year.
Lawyers for Giuffre and Andrew said the prince intends to make a substantial donation to Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.
The prince “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 filing said.
“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 added. “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, 61, has denied Giuffre’s accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties.
Giuffre, 38, has been one of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s most prominent accusers.
A spokeswoman for the prince said she had no comment beyond the court filing.
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)