Why Prince Andrew is ‘finished’ after settling with accuser Virginia Giuffre, writes Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan has slammed Prince Andrew as a “coward” and declared the royal is “finished” after settling with his accuser out of court.

So, he’s caved.

Just three weeks ago, Prince Andrew defiantly told the world he was demanding, yes DEMANDING, a trial by jury in his sex assault case – to clear his name.

It was all lies, he insisted in a ferocious 11-page rebuttal issued by his lawyers.

None of the very serious criminal claims against him were true.

In fact, he was certain he never even met the woman, Virginia Giuffre, making them.

She filed a lawsuit alleging that Andrew sexually assaulted her on three occasions, including once at his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan, when she was just 17 and not yet an adult under New York law.

There was even an infamous photo of Andrew with his arm draped around a very young-looking Giuffre, as a smirking Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s recently convicted sex trafficking partner-in-crime – lurked in the background.

But the picture was faked, he inferred, and none of the assaults ever happened.

Indeed, he was “expressly denying any, and all wrongdoing”.

And in a determined effort to discredit his alleged victim, sources ‘close to the prince’ briefed the media that he was looking forward to his day in court and suggested Giuffre was suffering “false memories”.

Prince Andrew is a “coward”, writes Piers Morgan. Picture: John Thys/AFP

“Make no mistake – Andrew’s now finished.” Picture: Supplied

Yet today, he settled, revealing his supposed defiance to be a sham.

We don’t know how much Andrew’s paid Giuffre, though it will be many millions of dollars, including a substantial donation to her charity in support of victims’ rights.

But we do know that by paying a massive cheque to avoid a showdown in court, he’s confirmed himself to be a snivelling little coward whose denials and demands weren’t worth the paper they were written on.

And we also know that by doing so, he has destroyed what’s left of his shattered reputation.

In a grovelling statement to court, Andrew says he “never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character” and accepts that “she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks”.

The statement adds: “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.

“He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”

Forgive me while I puke.

The very last person any victim of evil sex trafficking needs support from is a man who hung out for years with two evil sex traffickers and who just paid vast sums of money to avoid facing a trial over his own alleged involvement and participation.

Of course, there’s no admission of guilt about the allegations against him, which is something Andrew’s millions have protected him from having to test in court.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London, Britain on March 13 2001. Picture: Florida Southern District Court/Supplied

‘Andrew’s finished’

So, we’ll never know the truth now.

But it’s not difficult to work out why he’s taken the decision to duck his own demands of trial by jury.

In three weeks, on March 10, he was due to be interrogated under oath for two days by one of the world’s most ferociously skilled lawyers, David Boies – a man who’s made his name by crushing the rich and powerful into quivering wrecks with masterful cross-examinations that have become the stuff of legal legend.

Boies made mincemeat of tech titan Bill Gates on the witness stand back in the 90s, after describing him as “a brilliant advocate for his position, articulate, organised … a very dangerous witness”.

Just imagine what he’d have done to Andrew, who revealed himself during his calamitous BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis to be about as weak a witness as could possibly be imagined?

In that excruciating encounter, described by one critic as “nuclear explosion level bad”, Andrew came over as breathtakingly arrogant, staggeringly deluded, thoroughly disingenuous, horribly inconsistent, and woefully incapable of even beginning to understand the gravity of the accusations against him or showing a scintilla of empathy for Epstein’s victims.

Boies would have eaten him alive.

To give some idea of how bad it could have got if the case had proceeded, just look at the shocking stories which have emerged about Andrew in the past week alone.

First, the Daily Telegraph revealed a photo proving that he gave a VIP tour of Buckingham Palace to a group including Maxwell, President Bill Clinton and shamed actor Kevin Spacey.

Andrew had previously claimed to have had “no recollection” of being present at the tour. Yet there he is, pictured directing it.

He also claimed in his “I demand a jury trial!” statement that he and Maxwell were “not close friends”, yet another member of the tour party said: “Ghislaine was the one who led us into Buckingham Palace.

“We walked in the main gates and Ghislaine showed us where we needed to be. She knew her way around this area of the palace. Ghislaine was described to me [as] an ex-girlfriend of Prince Andrew’s.

“They clearly knew each other very well. She was very friendly and cheery. The impression we all had was that there was some relationship between Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell.”

So, he lied about that too. Second, The Sun exclusively revealed bombshell revelations from a massage therapist who said Andrew was her “creepiest” client and “a constant sex pest”.

‘Creepiest’ client

Emma Gruenbaum, 50, said he insisted on having the massages in his bedroom at his home, Royal Lodge, Windsor, luridly quizzed her about her sex life, repeatedly tried to hug her after sessions, and had an obsession with anal sex, leering: “Hey nice a**. Do you take it up the a**?”

She said she was speaking out after Andrew’s legal team said Virginia Giuffre “may suffer from false memories”.

Emma told The Sun: “I don’t want to sit by and not speak out about the way he was towards me as he calls Virginia delusional.”

Virginia Giuffre and David Boies, with two of Jeffrey Epstein’s other alleged victims. Picture: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Again, can you imagine what David Boies would have done with all this new ammunition, which only appears to cements a pattern of Andrew’s own convenient “false memories” and of his dreadful conduct towards women he barely knows?

And that’s before he sank his claws into Andrew about what he knew or witnessed in relation to Epstein and Maxwell’s sex crimes, much of it committed against underage girls.

Remember, Andrew continued hanging out with Epstein AFTER the monster was convicted for sex offences against a minor, spending three days with him in New York in 2010, and later giving the derisory excuse that ‘it was a convenient place to stay.

The trial would surely have exposed Andrew as a liar at best, and at worst, a sexual predator.

But there’s a bigger picture which I’m sure has led to this sensational decision to suddenly call it all off and settle.

This is supposed to be the year in which Britain celebrates the Queen’s glorious 70-year reign on the throne, a unique Platinum Jubilee to remind the world what a magnificent monarch she has been, and what a great institution she heads.

But if Andrew had persisted in trying to fight his case, the cascade of humiliating details that would have erupted about his sex life, and his long-time friendship with sex offenders, would have wrecked all that goodwill.

Doubtless, Boies would have quizzed Andrew specifically about conversations he’s had with the Queen about the allegations.

Prince Andrew with his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Ben Stansall/AFP

The prospect of Her Majesty being dragged into this repulsive sewer at the age of 95, with all the salacious global headlines that would have inevitably ensued, was an outrageous, totally unacceptable situation which could have inflicted terminal damage on the Monarchy.

So, he’s thrown in the towel and doled out the dollars to get himself off the rap, which at least will spare his poor mother, his family, and the country, any more of this deeply unedifying saga.

But let’s be very clear: for a senior member of the Royal Family to pay a small fortune to settle a case involving alleged sexual abuse of a minor is the most serious scandal to hit the Monarchy in modern times.

And the court of public opinion has swiftly concluded that by buying off his accuser, Andrew’s shown that once again, it’s one rule for the rich and powerful, another for the rest of them.

Make no mistake – Andrew’s now finished.

There can be no way back to any form of public life for the Queen’s second, and some say favourite, son.

He must be immediately stripped of all remaining titles and privileges that come with being a Prince and dispatched to the ignominious obscurity that his appalling behaviour demands.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission