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       Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre reach out-of-court settlement in sexual abuse lawsuit

       The Queen has agreed to help Prince Andrew pay a settlement to Virginia Giuffre with a donation of ￡2m to her charity, it has been reported.

       As the settlement in the civil sex abuse lawsuit was agreed in the US, the Queen said she would help Andrew as long as she was not connected to a personal payment to Ms Giuffre, according to the Mirror.

       Meanwhile parliament intends to discuss exactly where the money will come from and make sure that public money is not used.

       The Duke of York has reportedly agreed not to repeat his denial that he raped Ms Giuffre under the terms of a confidential settlement. He has also reached a multi-million-pound deal with Ms Giuffre to stop her civil lawsuit against him going to trial.

       But according to The Daily Telegraph, a clause prevents the duke from repeating his claim that he does not recall meeting Ms Giuffre.

       She, on the other hand, could soon be free to speak publicly under the terms of the agreement reached this weekend, the paper reports.

       Recommended Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre reach ‘￡10m’ settlement over sexual abuse claim Prince Andrew settlement: Five unanswered questions including who is paying for ‘￡12m’ donation Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre: How a simple photograph helped bring down Britain’s 9th in line to the throne

       Key Points Prince Andrew agrees not to repeat claim he didn’t rape Virginia Giuffre after settlement, report says Queen ‘likely to help duke pay’ settlement sum Prince Andrew ‘to retain remaining titles’, report claims Duke ‘did not want to overshadow Queen’s Platinum Jubilee'

       Show latest update 1645095038 Will Virginia Giuffre sell her story? Prince Andrew accuser did not sign NDA

       Virginia Giuffre did not sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as part of her settlement with Prince Andrew, paving the way for her to speak out about the alleged sexual abuse and bring more shame on the British royal family.

       The Queen’s disgraced son reached a multimillion-pound settlement with his accuser on Tuesday in order to stop the civil case going to trial.

       The settlement – which reports have estimated is in the region of ￡12m and the Queen is believed to be helping pay for – came just weeks before Prince Andrew was to be interviewed under oath for a deposition by Ms Giuffre’s high-powered attorneys.

       Rachel Sharp reports:

       Will Virginia Giuffre sell her story? Prince Andrew accuser did not sign NDA Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre reached a settlement, estimated to be around ￡12m, to stop the case going to trial. But with no non-disclosure agreement, details about the alleged abuse could still come out

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 10:50

       1645092729 Duke of York set on attending father’s memorial service

       The Duke of York is still set on attending a memorial service for his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, next month.

       A service of thanksgiving for the life of the late Duke of Edinburgh will take place on 29 March at Westminster Abbey.

       Full details of the service are yet to be announced, but it is thought that the media will be given the opportunity to cover the event, reported The Times.

       It is thought that there will likely be concerns that Andrew’s presence could overshadow the service.

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 10:12

       1645090876 Prince Andrew agrees not to repeat claim he didn’t rape Virginia Giuffre after settlement, report says

       Prince Andrew will not be able to repeat his claim that he did not rape Virginia Roberts Giuffre as part of the Jeffrey Epstein sex ring, under the terms of a confidential settlement reached over the weekend, The Daily Telegraph reports.

       The agreement, thought to be worth ￡12m, bars both parties from discussing the case or the financial terms of its settlement for a period of time, according to the paper.

       However, that bar may only last until the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, The Telegraph continues, suggesting Ms Giuffre may eventually be able to continue speaking publicly about what happened, or collect her recollections in a book or film.

       Josh Marcus has more:

       Prince Andrew won’t claim he didn’t rape Virginia Giuffre after settlement: report Virginia Roberts Giuffre expected to give statement at Ghislaine Maxwell sentencing

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 09:41

       1645089534 The British monarchy cannot rely on the prestige of the Queen indefinitely

       Rather like a monarchical relay race, it seems Prince Andrew has passed the baton of royal scandal to his elder brother.

       Having finally settled the claims against the Duke of York levelled by Virginia Giuffre, Buckingham Palace might have thought the royal family could catch their breath, get back to normal and start judging the entries for the platinum jubilee cake competition.

       The palace cannot yet, as the phrase goes, “move on” from a deeply damaging chapter, however.

       Read more:

       Editorial: The monarchy cannot rely on the prestige of the Queen indefinitely Editorial: Prince Charles’ charity is now under investigation and the future of Prince Andrew remains a matter of intense public concern

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 09:18

       1645087538 Settlement case with Virginia Giuffre ‘damaged’ Queen’s reputation

       Labour leader, Emily Thornberry said that Prince Andrew’s latest settlement case with Virginia Giuffre has “damaged” the Queen’s reputation.

       Speaking on ITV on Wednesday, Ms Thornberry said that Prince Andrew “has done a lot of damage to the monarchy, without a doubt. I pity the Queen.”

       She added: “She is a very very elderly lady and having to deal with this and the death of her husband this year, must be so traumatic.

       “I am more concerned about the direct family impact it will have,” she added.

       On Tuesday, it was reported that Prince Andrew is facing questions about his role in public life and how he plans to fund the financial settlement – which some reports suggested could be as much as ￡12m.

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 08:45

       1645086338 Tory MP calls on Prince Andrew to ‘eat humble pie’ and apologise

       Conservative MP Bob Seely says that Prince Andrew should apologise publicly after it was reported that the Duke has agreed to settle the sexual assault lawsuit against him for millions of dollars.

       Speaking on ITV on Wednesday, Mr Seely was asked whether Prince Andrew should make a very public apology.

       Mr Seely responded saying: “I think he probably should.”

       He called on Prince Andrew to “eat humble pie” and apologise. “That is beyond any wrongdoing he may or may not have committed,” he added.

       He said that the Duke had got it “very wrong at the very least” and that he must take immediate steps to address that

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 08:25

       1645084829 Parliament to raise funding of Duke of York’s settlement

       A Labour MP has said that he intends to seek assurances in parliament that public money will not be used to fund the Duke of York’s settlement with Virginia Giuffre.

       Andy McDonald, the MP for Middlesbrough, announced that he would raise the issue when MPs return to Westminster next week, following their half term break.

       He told BBC Two’s Newsnight: “This is a person of very high profile involved in a case where his position of authority and privilege has been allegedly abused and it is an enormous sum of money.

       “We don’t know the precise figure but there is a risk that this will be at the public’s expense so we need to have that resolved. We need to know exactly where this money is coming from.

       “I am going to take the opportunity to raise this issue in parliament because the issue isn’t going to go away until people have that information and receive assurances that public money is not going to be used to in any way contribute to the settlement.”

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 08:00

       1645083503 Queen to pay part of settlement for Prince Andrew

       It is thought that the Queen has agreed to help the Duke of York fund the out of court settlement to Virginia Giuffre.

       Prince Andrew will pay his accuser Ms Giuffre more than ￡12 million, which will mean that he will no longer face a jury trial on claims that he sexually abused and raped her on three separate occasions when she was under the age of 18.

       The Queen has already privately made millions of pounds of financial contributions to the Duke’s legal fight and it is thought that her latest financial contribution will be of around ￡2 million pounds.

       The Mirror reported a source saying that she "could not be seen to be making a payment to a victim of sexual assault, who accused her son of being an abuser".

       "But a deal was structured in such a way to arrange a sizeable financial contribution to the settlement by way of a charitable donation instead," they added.

       Eleanor Sly 17 February 2022 07:38

       1645083038 Ghislaine Maxwell's email gave Giuffre’s case ‘credibility’

       Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams believes that Ghislaine Maxwell’s email gave Virginia Giuffre case credibility before Prince Andrew’s settlement.

       In an interview with GB News, Mr Fitzwilliams said that “the photograph from 2001 which has been shown so many times and is a vital piece of evidence at the centre of the case was given credibility by an email exchange between Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015.”

       He added: “In it, Maxwell said ‘It looks real. I think it is.’ This further weakened Andrew’s case.”

       Experts believe that Prince Andrew will step back from his active public role after the settlement reports surfaced.

       Prince Andrew’s legal team had raised doubts over the source of the 2001 photograph which featured the Duke and Virginia Giuffre.

       Maroosha Muzaffar 17 February 2022 07:30

       1645081238 Ben Wallace praises Prince Andrew's 'strong record' during Falklands War

       UK’s defence secretary Ben Wallace praised Prince Andrew’s “strong record” of military service during the Falklands War.

       Addressing the issue of Prince Andrew’s settlement with Virginia Giuffre, Mr Wallace argued that the Duke should be judged for his military career separately from his personal conduct.

       He said: “Prince Andrew is a veteran who had a strong record in the Falkland Islands. If you reflect now on what was achieved in the Falklands campaign, it was extraordinary.”

       Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles last month.

       The defence secretary added that former servicemen like Prince Andrew “deserve their place for what they delivered as serving members of the armed forces.”

       Maroosha Muzaffar 17 February 2022 07:00

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