Charles, Prince of Wales, the heir apparent of the British throne, is providing a greater part of the estimated £12 million ($16.3 million) in the sex abuse deal agreed upon between Prince Andrew and his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, reported The Sun.
Queen Elizabeth II is also purportedly to be chipping in to cover the out-of-court settlement, with no public cash being used.
“There were family discussions about how to ‘take a little from here and a little from there,” a source was cited as saying regarding the decision to loan Prince Andrew the money. The source added:
“He has no income or money to repay a bank loan so the family is the only way to guarantee the payment.”
Last month Prince Andrew’s legal team had settled out of court on Giuffre’s civil claim that the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his “madam” and lover Ghislaine Maxwell had trafficked her out to have sex with the Duke of York on three occasions when she was 17 and a minor by US law.
The royal has strongly denied her claims and any wrongdoing. Prince Andrew accepts in the settlement that Giuffre is a “victim of abuse”, and contrary to his “car crash” ‘Newsnight’ interview on 16 November 2019, “regrets his association” with billionaire Epstein. However, there is no admission of liability or statement of innocence regarding the Giuffre’s allegations.
The amount of the settlement itself, the donation the royal has promised to Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights are all confidential.
The Duke of York, 62, who has since stepped down from official duties and been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages, has ten days to deposit the money so that his accuser will drop her sex abuse claim.
It is claimed that the Queen’s second son will pay back his brother, Prince Charles and the 95-year old monarch when he receives the proceeds from the purportedly £17 million sale of his ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, which could take two months.
“Once it (money from the chalet) hits his bank account, he can pay back his brother and whoever else has lent him money. But that payment (to Virginia) has to be paid on time. He can’t rely on selling the chalet. Too many things can go wrong and the court won’t wait for property queries,” the source was quoted as saying.
Furthermore, if he fails to repay the debt, Prince Andrew will lose money from the Queen’s will, writes the outlet. Queen Elizabeth is also believed to have funded her son’s legal battle with his accuser.
Earlier, British MPs deplored the fact they could not probe whether public money was funneled into Prince Andrew’s settlement due to an ancient custom barring the discussion of royals in Parliament, reported the publication.
It was Prince Charles who urged his embattled brother to settle with his accuser last month after lawyers revealed the Duke of York would have to give a witness statement in the civil case in New York, writes The Sun.
The outcome, coming in the year of the Queen’s platinum jubilee, is seen as the best possible for the royal family, as Buckingham Palace reportedly feared a repeat of Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview. At the time, the royal attempted to explain his relationship with the convicted pedophile financier Epstein, who died behind bars in 2019 while held on sex trafficking charges. The Duke of York had said he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Giuffre.
There has been no comment from Prince Andrew’s spokesman regarding the report in The Sun, not has there been any statement from the spokespersons for the Queen and Prince Charles.