NEW YORK: Britain's Prince Andrew has settled a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager and also being abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a US federal court filing showed on Tuesday (Feb 15).
The settlement, including an undisclosed payment, was revealed in the joint filing in Manhattan federal court, where Giuffre had sued Queen Elizabeth's second son last August.
It spares Andrew from a potentially embarrassing series of disclosures and accusations in the months leading up to and during a trial, which was slated to begin late this year.
Andrew, 61, has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties. Giuffre, 38, has been one of Epstein's and Maxwell's most prominent accusers.
Lawyers for Giuffre and Andrew said the prince intends to make a substantial donation to Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights.
The prince "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," the filing said.
"Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others," the filing added. "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."
The statement is a marked departure from an interview that Andrew gave the BBC in 2019 in which he failed to appear sympathetic toward Epstein's abuse victims, and refused to apologize for his friendship with Epstein.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvcHJpbmNlLWFuZHJldy1zZXR0bGVzLXNleC1hYnVzZS1hY2N1c2VyLXZpcmdpbmlhLWdpdWZmcmUtMjUwMDUyNtIBAA?oc=5
2022-02-15 16:44:00Z
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