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Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew entered a signed agreement Tuesday to officially dismiss the civil sexual abuse case she brought against the royal after he allegedly shelled out more than $16 million to settle the embarrassing lawsuit.
PRINCE ANDREW REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH SEXUAL ABUSE ACCUSER VIRGINIA GIUFFRE
“Plaintiff Virginia Guffre and defendant Prince Andrew, Duke of York, hereby stipulate to the dismissal of this action, with prejudice,” states the one-page letter filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The document still requires the signature of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to make it official.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York in London in 2017. A 2001 photo included in court files shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre. Virginia Giuffre, right, speaks at a news conference in 2019, in New York.
(Photo by Julian Finney – British Athletics/British Athletics via Getty Images | US second court of appeals | Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In the suit filed last August, Giuffre alleges that she was sexually abused by the Duke of York on three occasions when she was under 18 at the behest of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Both sides announced the settlement agreement Feb. 15 about a month before Prince Andrew was slated to be deposed in the case.
The parties did not disclose the sum of the settlement in court papers, but the Daily Telegraph reported the amount as $16.3 million. Prince Andrew’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, allegedly contributed $3 million, according to the newspaper. Part of the payout will go to Giuffre’s charity.
“It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years,” the Duke acknowledged in the settlement agreement letter. “Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
Composite photo: Prince Andrew, Duke of York visits the Showground on the final day of the 161st Great Yorkshire Show on July 11, 2019 in Harrogate, England. In the background is Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein in a photo from a court exhibit. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Prince Andrew has denied he abused Giuffre, allegations that have forced him to give up his public duties and royal patronages, and kept his unseemly former friendship with Epstein and Maxwell in the headlines.
Maxwell was convicted in December of sex trafficking and other charges for recruiting and grooming young women to be abused by Epstein. But her conviction could be overturned over allegations of juror misconduct.
Epstein, a convicted pedophile, was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on serious sex crimes charges.
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A spokesperson for Giuffre and Prince Andrew’s Los Angeles-based lawyer did not immediately return requests for comment.
