Queen Elizabeth II will reportedly be asked to bankroll her son, Prince Andrew, if he agrees to a multi-million dollar settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who has accused the British royal of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.
According to sources who spoke with The Telegraph in the U.K., the Queen would help support the cost of a settlement that could be in the region of £5 million ($6.79 million). The Telegraph also noted that the Queen is already funding Prince Andrew’s legal battle against Giuffre.
In addition to financial support from his mother, Prince Andrew has now settled a £6.6 million debt with Isabelle de Rouvre, a French socialite, allowing him to sell a Swiss chalet purchased in 2014 for £18 million.
“That is the end of the story thankfully,” Rouvre told the Daily Mail. “The war is finished. It is the end of the matter. I have nothing to do with it now. That’s all.”
“Andrew and his ex-wife had agreed with Rouvre that Chalet Helora in the ski resort of Verbier in the Swiss Alps, would be paid for in installments. But Rouvre claimed the two failed to make the final £5m installment,” The Guardian reported. “Initially Rouvre agreed the final installment could be deferred until December 2019, with interest accruing, but the Yorks still did not honor the agreement despite repeated demands, it was reported.”
Prince Andrew’s legal woes were accelerated following the recent conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein — a close friend of Prince Andrew — on sex trafficking charges.
“Prince Andrew has been under scrutiny for years over allegations that he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was underage. Giuffre is one of Epstein’s most high-profile accusers and has claimed the dead financier sex trafficked her to Prince Andrew,” The Daily Wire reported. “Giuffre says that a 2001 picture of her, Prince Andrew, and Maxwell was taken during the time she was being abused by the British royal.”
Part of Prince Andrew’s legal strategy against the civil case involves the now-unveiled 2009 agreement between Giuffre and Epstein.
“The settlement signed by Prince Andrew’s accuser that the Duke hopes will lead to the dismissal of her sex assault lawsuit against him was unsealed today,” The Daily Mail reported. “Signed in 2009, Virginia Giuffre agreed to be paid $500,000 by Jeffrey Epstein to resolve the sex abuse case against him.”
As the Mail explained, while the document makes no mention of Andrew by name, it does stipulate “other potential defendants” are included in the agreement. It appears that Prince Andrew will be relying on being included in the vague category defined by “other potential defendants.”
According to that agreement: “Hereby release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge the said Second Parties and any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant (‘Other Potential Defendants’) from all, and all manner of, action and actions of Virginia Roberts.”
Andrew Brettler, who represents Prince Andrew, previously told a New York hearing the agreement “releases Prince Andrew and others from any purported liability arising from the claims Ms Giuffre asserted against Prince Andrew here,” the BBC reported.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.