Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew agree to settle sex abuse case
NEW YORK - Prince Andrew has reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in connection with a sexual abuse lawsuit.
In papers filed with the court, the two sides agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement.
Giuffre had accused the disgraced son of Queen Elizabeth II of raping her when she was a teenager. She is also an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail while awaiting trial on sex crime charges.
"Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights," the paperwork says. "Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks."
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Photo from 2001 that was included in court files shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. Andrew has denied the charges. In the background is Epst
As part of the settlement, Prince Andrew said he "regrets his association" with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Giuffre case was set to move forward in weeks.
In January, a judge rejected an argument by Andrew’s lawyers that her lawsuit should be thrown out because of an old legal settlement she had reached with Epstein, who she claims set up sexual encounters with the prince.
Giuffre sued the prince in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with Andrew in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The prince had repeatedly denied having sex with her.
Andrew has said he first met Epstein three years after his 10-year marriage with Sarah Ferguson ended in divorce in 1996. He said in a statement in 2019 that he saw Epstein "infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.