A court in New York rejected objections from Andrew’s attorneys, a court document revealed on Wednesday. The attorneys of the Queen’s second eldest son had hoped to nip the lawsuit in the bud and were referring to a settlement that plaintiff Virginia Giuffre reached in 2009 with US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
Giuffre accuses Andrew, now 61, of having abused her several times through Epstein’s mediation. She claims to have previously been the victim of an abuse ring set up by the multimillionaire and his ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was recently found guilty of several counts in a criminal case by a court and faces a long prison sentence.
In the deal, it was agreed that no other people could be prosecuted in connection with the allegations of abuse. In return, Giuffre received $ 500,000 (the equivalent of around 330,000 euros in November 2009). But the judge ruled that the agreement in the present case did not prevent a lawsuit: The Epstein-Giuffre agreement did not clearly indicate that the parties involved intended to protect Prince Andrew.
There has been no criminal investigation against Andrew so far. The prince resigned his official duties for the royal family in 2019 because of the allegations. Shortly before, he had tried to refute the allegations in a BBC interview, but could not convince.
Source: Nachrichten
