The news about Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts (now is more known as Virginia Giuffre) who have settled the sex abuse lawsuit that she filed against him is all over the place. However, the Queen still has not said anything.
Last month, Queen Elizabeth II stripped her own son named Prince Andrew of his royal patronages, honorary military titles and any official use of his HRH title. It is not easy to imagine a comeback to royal duties and public engagements knowing that the out-of -court settlement made by Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre parties that was announced on Tuesday raises a lot of questions with no answers.
In the statement, Prince Andrew does not dispute the very serious allegation of the sexual assault accused by Virginia Giuffre in her civil case. Actually, he does not dispute or admit it. Previously, his lawyer dismissed the case, saying that it is baseless. They accused Giuffre, the one who settled her claim against the sex offender named Jeffrey Epstein for $500,000 in 2009, of seeking more money.
While the settlement has been made, even though it is still needed to be settled by the court officially, it seems impossible for his patronages to be returned to him as they are already being shared out among the other royal family members and the public opinion is hard to be changed. It is believed that the third child of the Queen will remain sidelined in any official royal capacity.
However, Prince Andrew is still the Queen’s son. Since the first time her son was accused by Virginia Giuffre, the Queen has made clear her support through her actions. Everyone knows that he was invited to Balmoral. Not only that, he was also allowed to play an important role in the public tributes to Prince Phillips, who is his father, after his death last April. At the time, both the Queen and Prince Andrew rode together. Looking at these events, the chance of him attending the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June is high. When the time comes, he will be there as a member of her family.
Even after the out of court settlement, Prince Andrew has to pay a lot of money in legal costs and an undisclosed sum. According to some sources, the sum could be millions. A report that is yet to be confirmed said that it could be at £7.5m. Meanwhile, some lawyers said that it could exceed £10m.
No one knows if the Queen, the one who supported the royal work of Prince Andrew from the private income that she gets form the Duchy of Lancaster estate, will be helping him to pay for everything, including the settlement. Recently, Prince Andrew was reported to sell a Swiss ski chalet that he purchased 12 years ago with his ex wife Sarah Ferguson for about £18m.
The settlement made by both parties was hailed by royal and regal experts. An author on royal finances named David McClure shared a tweet saying that it was always the only outcome for the royal family in terms of damage limitation.
Meanwhile, a lawyer with the disputes resolution firm Ince named Nick Goldstone stated that it was a good day for the royal family. He added that it was also a huge relief for that institution. Besides, it was probably a good day for Virginia Giuffre. On the same occasion, he said that a settlement in principle has to be ratified by court order and until it is seen, he would not hold his breath. It is clear that the settlement made by both parties is the one on very generous financial terms for the complaint and a degree of back pedaling by the defendant. The man added that in the terms of the court of public opinion, it looks like an admission of bad conduct on the part of Prince Andrew and he suspected the he will remain out of the spotlight from the royal family for the rest of his life. He said that it is possible for him to have an intention to rehabilitate himself by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking and supporting all the victims over the years. The thing that motivates him the most is probably his loss of honorary title and royal associations.
Apparently, both parties decided to announce the out of court settlement a few weeks before Prince Andrew was scheduled to give a deposition in the case under oath to the lawyer of Virginia Giuffre. With the settlement, it seems like the statement given by Prince Andrew in an interview with Emily Maitlis from Newsnight in 2019 was changed. In the past, he failed to show the sympathy for the victims of the sex offender, who happened to be his friend, named Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the court document, Prince Andrew regrets his association with Jeffrey Epstein and applauds Virginia Giuffre and the other victims for being brave enough to stand up for themselves and the others. The royal author named Penny Junor said that at least Prince Andrew is showing some regrets and some empathy for all the victims now, which is different compared to the previous one when all he said was about him. It is still a good thing that he finally got it right now, even though it took him a long time. When asked if it is possible for him to be back to the public royal life, she said that it is very unlikely. In addition, the editor of Majesty magazine said that Prince Andrew would be forever tainted. He said that he just does not think that he will resume work as a working member of the royal family and he thinks that too much water has gone under the bridge for that and the institution of monarchy has been tainted by Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein. Basically, it seems impossible for him to go back to the life before everything happened.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
Leave a Reply