- The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Britain’s Prince Andrew has agreed to a settlement with Virginia Giuffre, signaling the end of the high-profile legal battle over allegations that he sexually abused her as an underage teen under the thumb of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a letter filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Giuffre attorney David Boies said the parties expect to submit a “stipulated dismissal” of the case in 30 days, but it did not disclose the amount of the financial settlement.

“Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement,” reads the letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. “The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms. Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).”

In addition, “Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights. Prince Andrew has 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.”

Prince Andrew, who had denied the allegations, agreed to the terms after seeking unsuccessfully to dismiss the lawsuit filed in New York.

His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him in January of military titles and royal duties over his association with Epstein.

“It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years,” reads the Boies filing. “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.”

The 66-year-old Epstein, who was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, was found dead in August 2019 in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City in an apparent suicide.

The lawsuit alleged that Ms. Giuffre was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew at the direction of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate who was convicted two months ago of procuring underage girls to have sex with him in the same court.

Ms. Giuffre, an American, accused Prince Andrew of having sex with her when she was 17 in New York City, London and Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and said that he knew she was underage when he did so.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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