Abuse process
Prince Andrew is coming under more and more pressure – an old Epstein deal could help him
On Tuesday afternoon, a US court will deal with the abuse allegations against Prince Andrew
© Steve Parsons / AP
In the abuse trial against Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew was rarely mentioned. However, from a victim who made serious accusations against both and could endanger the prince. He’s hoping for an old deal and a dismissal of the lawsuit.
Last week, longtime confidante of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty by a jury in a New York court of recruiting minors for sex with the multimillionaire. The sentence has not yet been announced. On Tuesday, a New York court will deal with the role of Britain’s Prince Andrew in the scandal. Queen Elizabeth II’s 61-year-old son calls for a dismissal of an alleged victim by Epstein and Maxwell.
What legal charges are being made against Prince Andrew?
The US native Virginia Giuffre accuses Prince Andrew in a civil suit of sexually abusing her a good 20 years ago when she was only 17 years old. Accordingly, she was passed on by Epstein to his influential friends and forced three times to have sex with Andrew.
The prince has repeatedly and firmly denied the allegations. He said he had no memory of meeting Giuffre. In any case, he “absolutely and categorically” ruled out having had sex with her. The British Royal Palace stood behind him. No criminal proceedings have been initiated against Andrew.
But the affair did not remain without consequences for the prince. After his clumsy attempt to clear the allegations in a television interview at the end of 2019 failed, he withdrew from his royal duties.
Against Andrew’s pleading of innocence speaks a photo that shows him with Maxwell in their London house, with his arm around Giuffres bare waist. Andrew suggested a fake. After Maxwell’s conviction, Giuffre wrote on the online service Twitter that she “did not act alone. Others must be held accountable. I trust that this will happen.”
What is the strategy of Andrews lawyers?
The defense attorneys want to have Giuffre’s complaint dismissed at the hearing on Tuesday. In doing so, they rely on a confidential waiver agreement that Giuffre had made with Epstein in 2009. In return for $ 500,000 (439,000 euros), she pledged not to bring allegations of abuse against Epstein and “any other person or legal entity that could have been included as a potential suspect” in court.
The civil court must now clarify whether Giuffre has forfeited possible claims against Andrew through this settlement. His lawyers argue that the 2009 agreement with Epstein prevents prosecution. Giuffres lawyers oppose that the settlement with Epstein has no relevance for a possible civil case against Andrew. There is no criminal case against Andrew in the USA.
What connections did Prince Andrew have with Epstein and Maxwell?
The BBC told Andrew that he met media mogul Robert Maxwell’s daughter when she was a student and last saw her in the summer of 2019. After Maxwell introduced the Prince Epstein in 1999, Andrew kept in touch with the US multimillionaire. Andrew visited Epstein at his luxury residence in New York and his mansions in Palm Beach and on a Caribbean island. The prince used Epstein’s private jet.
At Andrew’s invitation, Epstein and Maxwell were guests at Windsor Castle in 2000 and took part in the pheasant hunt at the royal estate of Sandringham. The duo was also photographed on Balmoral, the Scottish country residence of the British royal family.
Andrew has admitted that he was with Epstein in New York in 2010 shortly after Epstein served about a year in prison for prostituting underage girls. Prince Andrew told the BBC that he regretted the visit but that Epstein’s property was simply “a good place to stay”.
How does the guilty verdict against Maxwell affect Andrew?
Legally, Maxwell’s conviction did not affect Prince Andrew’s trial. In the public perception, however, “changes everything,” Royals correspondent Johnny Dymond recently told the BBC. There is now a connection between the prince and a convicted sex offender, and one of their victims also alleges Andrew.
The photo of Maxwell, Giuffre and Andrew could now “be described as the sex dealer, the sex slave and the duke,” said Dymond. “The verdict is bad news for Prince Andrew,” wrote the Times. His chances of fending off Giuffre’s lawsuit now seemed “even thinner than before”.