Prince Andrew ‘on Collision Course’ With Royals, Who Want Him to Settle With Virgina Giuffre, Not Seek Trial

Prince Andrew is “on a collision course” with the royal household over his resolution to hunt a jury trial within the civil case being introduced in opposition to him by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges the queen’s son raped her 3 times when she was 17.

British newspaper the Every day Mail additionally quoted a supply saying the palace is “determined” for Andrew to settle to take away the prospect of an embarrassing New York courtroom showdown that can overshadow the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. These formally start on Accession Day—Feb. 6—the anniversary of the queen’s father’s dying in 1952, and can peak with a four-day vacation weekend in June.

The potential for embarrassment {that a} full jury trial may entail was made abundantly clear by British royal professional and lawyer Mark Stephens, who instructed the Mail: “Questions will likely be requested of Virginia Giuffre concerning the prince’s physique, any marks, his efficiency, what positions had been adopted—each element that’s conceivable to ask after which that will likely be put to Andrew.”

Though the queen belatedly acted this month to completely reduce off Andrew from any formal connection to the royal household, the prospect of her second—and a few say favourite—son being grilled about his sexual actions in open courtroom would nonetheless symbolize an unprecedented humiliation for the royal household, which can be why a supply instructed the Mail: “Andrew is on collision course with the palace” over his obvious willpower to proceed combating the case.

After all, it’s unclear if Andrew has the cash to settle with Giuffre, who’s prone to demand a multimillion-dollar settlement to drop her claims, even when he wished to. Earlier studies have steered that Prince Charles and Prince William are adamantly against household cash getting used to repay Andrew’s accuser, believing Andrew ought to “clear up his personal mess.”

In latest weeks, The Every day Beast has been instructed that Andrew is promoting a $20m ski chalet he and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, personal within the Alpine ski resort of Verbier, Switzerland.

There was some hypothesis this might present money to fund any settlement.

But legal professional Spencer Kuvin, who has represented victims of Jeffrey Epstein, instructed British newspaper the Mirror that actually a sale earlier than the trial may very well be a approach of placing his property past Giuffre’s attain, saying: “If Virginia will get a judgment in opposition to Andrew, if this went throughout to trial and she or he obtained a monetary judgment in her favor, she may execute on any properties he has, the most probably being his ski chalet.

“If Andrew had properties in any companion nation that might abide by such jurisdiction of the U.S., she will be able to execute on these properties.”