By Prince Andrew of Britain and the woman who sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was underage formally asked a New York federal judge Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit given their agreement to settle the case out of court.
The stipulation to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s case was expected after the disclosure by her lawyer on Feb. 15 that Andrew had agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed sum of money to withdraw her civil suit.
Giuffre has claimed Andrew assaulted her on several occasions as a girl years ago, while she was under the control of sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom were friends with the prince.
The court filing came as multiple British media outlets reported that Andrew had paid Giuffre the agreed-upon amount.
Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan is expected to grant the joint request to toss the case.
That request came as a hearing in the same court was to begin Tuesday related to a bid by Maxwell seeking to toss out her criminal conviction in December for obtaining other underage girls to be abused by Epstein.
Maxwell’s lawyers say a juror at her trial lied on a jury questionnaire about not having been a child sex abuse victim before telling reporters after the case ended that he had been such a victim. Prosecutors have asked a judge to grant the juror immunity from prosecution so that he can be forced to answer questions Tuesday about his differing statements under oath.
Andrew previously had strongly denied Giuffre’s allegations and also claimed not to recall ever meeting Giuffre. He has not recanted those denials.
But the Duke of York reached an out-of-court, confidential agreement with her to settle the case after failing to get Judge Kaplan to dismiss the lawsuit, setting the stage for Andrew to be questioned under oath by Giuffre’s lawyers.
The agreement came shortly after Andrew’s already tattered reputation due to his connection to Maxwell and Epstein was dealt even more blows by being stripped of his military titles and other honorifics related to being a member of Britain’s royal family.
As part of the settlement, Andrew, who is a son of Queen Elizabeth II, agreed to make “a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.”
A statement by his lawyers and Giuffre’s counsel last month said the prince “regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
“He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims,” that statement said.
Epstein killed himself by hanging in a Manhattan federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges, authorities have said.
