NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prince Andrew on Tuesday formally requested a dismissal of Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was underage, as Britain’s finance ministry confirmed that no public funds had been used in their settlement.
Andrew and Giuffre filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in Manhattan federal court docket, the place it’s anticipated to win approval from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The Feb. 15 settlement included an undisclosed fee, with Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, making a “substantial donation” to Giuffre’s charity in assist of victims’ rights.
Andrew, the Duke of York, didn’t admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the civil lawsuit. He has not been accused of legal wrongdoing.
The finance ministry issued its remark after The Sun, a British tabloid, stated Andrew’s older brother Prince Charles was bankrolling many of the settlement, with the queen chipping in.
Giuffre’s case had centered on Andrew’s friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and intercourse offender who the 38-year-old Giuffre stated additionally sexually abused her.
Andrew, 62, denied Giuffre’s accusations that he compelled her to have intercourse when she was 17 on the London dwelling of Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan, and Epstein’s non-public island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The allegations and Andrew’s relationship with Epstein severely broken the prince’s status, forcing Queen Elizabeth’s second son to surrender his royal patronages and no longer be referred to as “His Royal Highness.”
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking fees. Maxwell is in search of a brand new trial after being convicted in December of recruiting and grooming underage ladies for Epstein to abuse.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
