Queen to partly pay Prince Andrew's £12 million settlement in sexual abuse case: Report

Prince Andrew settled his legal battle with Virginia Giuffre, who accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her in 2001 when she was just 17-year-old. According to a report by The Telegraph, Prince Andrew needs to pay the £12 million (over Rs 122 crore) court settlement that would partly be provided by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The report further stated that the Duke of York, who lives on a modest Navy pension and an annual £250,000 stipend from the Queen, finds it difficult to pay the settlement money on its own as it is to be transferred to the plaintiff’s account within a month. 

According to a joint statement by both parties, Prine Andrew has also pledged to make a significant donation to support victims of sex trafficking. The settlement talks were said to have taken ten days to complete. The settlement was finalized just a few weeks before Andrew was scheduled to testify and questioned by Giuffre's lawyers under oath. However, the Duke of York is yet to acknowledge any of the charges levelled against him. 

Duke of York charged with 'first-degree rape'

The Prince was charged with "first-degree rape" after allegations that he forced complainant Giuffre to get intimate with him in 2001 when she was being trafficked across the world by the royal's late paedophile associate Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier, Giuffre had stated that she would only settle the matter if Prince accepts his crime. The US attorneys representing the victims claimed victory for survivors after Andrew reached a settlement with Giuffre. However, one lawyer claimed that Andrew's "arrogance"  delayed the settlement process. 

Prince's lawyers argued over Giuffre's residency status to get case dismissed

It should be mentioned here that Prince's lawyers had earlier attempted to get the case dismissed by arguing over Giuffre's residency status. In a court filing on December 28, they stated that a lawsuit filed by her may have to be dismissed as she no longer lives in the United States. According to attorneys Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner, complainant Giuffre has been residing in Australia for the last two years, and hence cannot claim to be a resident of Colorado, US, where she has not lived since 2019, reported the Associated Press (AP). However, the judge had denied the plea to dismiss the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds.