Prince Andrew has paid his accuser, her lawyer reports

By Lauren del Valle | CNN

Prince Andrew on Tuesday paid sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre a settlement, her lawsuit against the Duke of York pending approval by a federal judge, according to her attorney.

Her attorneys filed a dismissal of Giuffre’s sex abuse lawsuit in court on Tuesday.

“Payment has been received, the settlement we announced last month has been completed. We’re obviously very happy with the outcome,” Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, told CNN.

Boies declined to disclose the amount the two parties agreed on.

CNN reached out to Prince Andrew’s lawyer for comment.

The settlement ends a civil lawsuit that grew out of the broad and troubling allegations against Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy sex offender who has befriended a number of powerful men despite a patchy history.

In the lawsuit, Giuffre alleged that Epstein trafficked her, forcing her to have sex with his friends, including Prince Andrew, and that Andrew was aware she was a minor in the United States at the time. She alleged that Andrew sexually abused her on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his Manhattan mansion and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home.

The prince has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Still, the allegations against Andrew, 62, have dramatically tarnished his public image and he stepped down from royal duties in late 2019.

In January, Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Andrews’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and he was scheduled to file an affidavit on March 10, a source told CNN.

However, the parties reached an out-of-court settlement last month. The settlement included payment of an undisclosed amount from Prince Andrew to Giuffre and to her charity, which supports victims’ rights, according to court documents.

“Prince Andrew intends to make a sizeable donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights. Prince Andrew never intended to slander Ms Giuffre’s character and he accepts that she has suffered both as a well-established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks,” read a letter filed with the court last month announced the agreement.