Virginia Giuffre’s civil case against Prince Andrew has been dropped, after a settlement was reached between the two parties overnight.
In a letter to the New York court overseeing the case, Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies filed a statement, revealing that both parties have reached a settlement and will file for the case to be dismissed within the next 30 days.
The settlement will end a trial that would have likely seen further reputational damage to the British monarchy.
Giuffre accused the Duke of emotional harm, battery and forcing her to have sex with him two decades ago inside the residence belonging to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Cairns-based campaigner has maintained that she met the duke while travelling with convicted sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein between 2000 and 2002 and was “on call for Epstein for sexual purposes…and lent out to other powerful men.”
The Duke has consistently denied all allegations against him.
Lawyers for both Giuffre and Andrew said the Duke plans to make ‘substantial donations’ to Giuffre’s charity which supports 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,” their statement read.
“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.”
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the settlement. In January, it announced that the Duke would be defending the case “as a private citizen”, however critics have suggested this would not prevent him from accessing financial aid from the Queen’s private wealth.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens believes the total costs of legal fees, Andrew’s settlement and the charitable donation may amount to a total of roughly $10 million dollars.
He told UK’s PA news agency, “Multimillion dollar awards are not uncommon in MeToo kind of cases.”
“Essentially the question is what is his net worth? What I’m doing is putting together the fact that he sold, at an undervalue, because he had to do it quickly, his chalet, we know that he netted about 10 million from it, maybe a little more.”
The latest news of the settlement comes just over a month after the duke failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit, suggesting depositions and other evidence collection processes may soon commence.