LONDON — The settlement announced Tuesday between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre allows Britain’s monarchy to “move on”, just as Queen Elizabeth II celebrates a landmark 70th year on the throne, royal commentators said.
Andrew, 61, has opted against pursuing a jury trial in the US civil case brought against him by Giuffre, who alleges he sexually assaulted her in 2001 when she was 17 and a minor under American law.
Instead, he has agreed to make a “substantial donation” to a charity established by Giuffre that supports sex trafficking victims, and will no longer be questioned under oath by her lawyers.
However, he continues to deny all the accusations against him.
The decision is seen as not only protecting the prince from further highly damaging revelations and attention, but also helps limit the British monarchy’s exposure to the years-long scandal.
“There’s absolutely no doubt there’ll be an enormous sigh of relief in all the royal households tonight,” Roya Nikkhah, royal editor at The Sunday Times newspaper, told Britain’s Channel 4 News.
“The wider royal family would’ve been as eager I think as Andrew not to see this go to trial,” she added.
However, Nikkhah noted the institution would recover from the controversy. “The royal family has survived many scandals over the years.”
As pressure grew on the family to act, the Queen stripped her second, and reportedly favorite, son of his honorary military titles and charitable roles last month, leaving him with no public duties.
Under apparent pressure from the military, the Duke of York — as he is formerly known — has also been deprived of his military titles and, in an additional humiliation, lost the use of the title of “His Royal Highness”.
The collective moves effectively remove him from official royal life.
Andrew had already stepped back from the spotlight following a calamitous 2019 television interview in which he sought to vindicate himself and justify his friendship with the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2021)
