Prince Andrew braces for fresh sex abuse allegation storm
Prince Andrew is bracing for a fresh sex abuse storm one year on from his alleged multimillion dollar settlement with Virginia Giuffre.
Prince Andrew is bracing for a fresh sex abuse storm one year on from his alleged multimillion dollar settlement with accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre’s gagging clause will reportedly be lifted in February, meaning she will be free to talk publicly once more.
A victim of sex trafficking at the hands of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, now deceased, and Ghislaine Maxwell, now in prison, Ms Giuffre has claimed the Duke of York raped and abused her when she was 17. Andrew has strongly denied her accusations.
The pair were due to put the allegations to a jury in court, but Andrew settled the lawsuit in February of 2022. Sources say his lawyers negotiated a deal of between $5 million and $9 million, according to The Sun.
The agreement contained no formal admission of liability or apology from Andrew, though it said he accepted that Ms Giuffre was a “victim of abuse”, and regretted his association with Epstein.
Both parties are said to have signed an order to remain silent about the case and financial deal over Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, but said order expires next month, the UK Telegraph reports.
Ms Giuffre will then be able to resume TV and newspaper interviews, and even write a book about her experiences.
She sued the duke for unspecified damages, claiming she was forced to have sex with the then-41-year-old on three separate occasions in 2001.
The first was said to be at Maxwell’s house in London after a night out at the club Tramp, followed by alleged incidents at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and in the Virgin Islands.
In an infamous Newsnight interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in November of 2019, Andrew denied the allegations.
He said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre, nor the photograph of him with his arm around her waist.
The Prince even provided an “alibi”, claiming that the night the alleged encounter took place while he was at a Pizza Express birthday party in Woking, Surrey, with his daughter Princess Beatrice.
Andrew was stripped of all military titles and patronages and cannot return to public duties after a showdown with the Queen.
He also no longer has an office at Buckingham Palace after his brother King Charles threw him out.
This story first appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission.
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