Inside Prince Andrew's Case Settlement With Virginia Giuffre

Queen Elizabeth's second son, Prince Andrew, found himself deeply embroiled in the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking scandal almost overnight in 2015 when court documents revealed that one of Epstein and Maxwell's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, also alleged that she had been forced to have sex with Prince Andrew at Epstein's behest on three separate occasions.

Later, in 2019, she discussed the first time she met the prince in detail during an interview with BBC's Panorama. "He is the most hideous dancer I've ever seen in my life", she recalled. "His sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere," she added. Prince Andrew, however, emphatically denied all claims. "I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened," he declared when asked directly if he had sex with Giuffre during an interview with BBC Newsnight in November 2019.

Still, Giuffre forged on. In August 2021, she filed a lawsuit against the royal. "I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but one can reclaim her life by speaking out and demanding justice," she said in a statement to ABC News. But now it appears it's finally reckoning day for the fallen prince...

Disgraced Prince Andrew and plaintiff Virginia Giuffre have finally reached an out-of-court settlement in the sexual assault lawsuit. 

According to documents obtained by The New York Times, the parties agreed on an undisclosed sum of money and the prince "intends to make a substantial donation" to a non-profit organization "in support of victims' rights." Per the outlet, the letter also states that the royal "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." 

Upon learning the news, many took to Twitter to let their thoughts be known, including British solicitor and former chief prosecutor, Nazir Afzal. "Prince Andrew has settled the claim by Virginia Guiffre that he sexually assaulted her – to avoid a trial. He is willing to pay her large sums of money to her for something he denies. Make of that what you will," he tweeted. "It's a credit to Ms Guiffre that she has insisted all the money goes to her charities in support of victims rights. Before it's spun to suggest Prince Andrew is giving a donation to charity, remember he could do that anytime he wanted. This is no 'donation.' This is 'blood money,'" he continued in another tweet.