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Prince Andrew has settled a civil sexual assault case introduced towards him within the US by Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three events when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.
A letter filed to the US district court docket on Tuesday mentioned the duke and Ms Giuffre had reached an out-of-court settlement.
It mentioned the duke – who makes no admission of legal responsibility – would pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre.
In a letter to US decide Lewis A Kaplan, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies wrote collectively with Prince Andrew’s legal professionals to say the pair had reached “a settlement in precept”.
An announcement included with the letter learn: “The events will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which isn’t being disclosed).”
It mentioned the duke would make a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in help of victims’ rights”.
Prince Andrew, the assertion added, had “by no means supposed to malign Ms Giuffre’s character” and he recognised she had “suffered each as a longtime sufferer of abuse and on account of unfair public assaults”.
The duke additionally pledged to “reveal his remorse for his affiliation” with the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the “combat towards the evils of intercourse trafficking, and by supporting its victims”.
He additionally recommended the “bravery of Ms Giuffre and different survivors in standing up for themselves and others”.
Prince Andrew’s legal professionals had beforehand mentioned he was able to go earlier than a jury to combat Ms Giuffre’s claims, with a trial anticipated later this yr.
His representatives mentioned he had no remark past what was mentioned within the doc filed to the court docket. Buckingham Palace declined to touch upon the settlement.
Though the precise quantity of the monetary settlement has not been revealed, experiences have speculated that it might run into thousands and thousands of kilos.
It has prompted questions on how the duke – who receives a Royal Navy pension and a stipend from the Queen’s Duchy of Lancaster revenue – will fund the settlement.
Kate Macnab, a lawyer at Reeds Solicitors, says: “It’s doubtless there will probably be some calls for to know the place the fee is coming from – public or personal purse?”
Graham Smith from the anti-monarchy group Republic mentioned taxpayers deserved to know the place the cash for the settlement was coming from.
Ms Giuffre, who was beforehand generally known as Virginia Roberts, claimed she was the sufferer of intercourse trafficking and abuse by financier Epstein from the age of 16. Epstein died in jail in 2019 whereas awaiting a intercourse trafficking trial.
She mentioned a part of the abuse noticed her lent out to highly effective males, together with Prince Andrew, who’s the third little one of the Queen and ninth in line to the throne.
Ms Giuffre, now 38, claimed the duke, 61, sexually assaulted her on three events when she was 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell’s dwelling in London, in Epstein’s mansion in New York and on Epstein’s personal island within the US Virgin Islands.
In a 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Prince Andrew mentioned he had no reminiscence of ever assembly Ms Giuffre and mentioned her account of their London assembly and intercourse at a home in Belgravia “did not occur”.
He additionally mentioned understanding Epstein had had “some severely useful outcomes”, at a time when he had left a profession within the Navy and begun one as a commerce and business particular consultant.
In January, the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York dominated that the civil motion over him might go forward.
Buckingham Palace later introduced that Prince Andrew’s navy titles and royal patronages had been returned to the Queen and that he would defend Ms Giuffre’s civil case as a “personal citizen”.
A royal supply mentioned he would additionally cease utilizing the title His Royal Highness in an official capability.
Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing a number of of Epstein’s accusers, welcomed the duke’s settlement as a “victory” for Ms Giuffre.
In a press release on Twitter on behalf of her shoppers, she wrote: “We hail Virginia’s victory right this moment. She has achieved what no-one else might: getting Prince Andrew to cease his nonsense and facet with sexual abuse victims. We salute Virginia’s beautiful braveness.”
The settlement is prone to come as a reduction to the Royal Household, BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell mentioned, because it means the prospect of a trial is not going to disrupt the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
He mentioned the duke might have been below strain from inside his household to settle the case to keep away from additional public court docket hearings.
Supply: BBC
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