Prince Andrew trial will cause ‘massive embarrassment’ for Queen unless royal settles out of court, says expert
PRINCE Andrew is likely to pay off rape accuser Virginia Roberts to avoid any further embarrassment for The Queen, a royal expert has said.
Leading commentator Phil Dampier told The Sun Online he believes the Duke of York will try stop the case with an out-of-court settlement to spare his 95-year-old mum.
The author added he believes Andrew - often described as The Queen's favourite son - is "finished" and will likely be stripped of his military patronages.
It comes as today a judge sensationally ruled against Andrew after he attempted to use a $500,000 backroom deal between Virginia and paedo Jeffrey Epstein to halt the legal action against him.
The Duke is being sued for allegedly sexually abusing his accuser when she was just 17.
The decision is a major blow to the Duke whose reputation is already in tatters over questions over his friendship with twisted couple Epstein and his "pimp" Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew strongly denies all allegations against him - and claims he has no memory of even meeting Virginia.
Mr Dampier told The Sun Online: "This is very bad news for him - it means he will probably have to settle outside court as 97 per cent of civil cases in America do.
"There is always the danger that if he pays Virginia Roberts off, that someone else might emerge and make a similar claim but that could be a risk he has to take."
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He went on: "I can't see now any other way out of this without causing massive embarrassment to the Royal Family and to The Queen in her Platinum Jubilee [year].
"Which is something they will want to avoid. I don't think they will say anything publicly - I think it will all be dealt with privately but I would have thought his lawyers seem to have made mutterings that an out of court settlement might be their only way forward.
"And I think that's pretty much his only option now - he could fight it in court but obviously he‘s got to take the risk that it could cost him even more if he loses."
More than a week ago Andrew's lawyers presented their efforts to have the long awaited lawsuit thrown out.
And after eight days deliberation the bombshell announcement was made today just after 2.15pm.
What we know about the case:
- The royal faces a number of bombshell claims from his accuser Virginia Roberts
- She alleges she was forced to have sex with him three times after being trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell
- He strongly denies any wrongdoing and even says they couple have never met
- Andrew brushed off her description of an encounter by saying he could not sweat
- Experts have said Andrew could try to settle out of court & may lose his royal titles
The case is the most significant legal action against a member of the Royal Family in recent memory - and comes after years of allegations against the Duke.
Mr Dampier told The Sun Online: "I think he is finished as a working royal.
"It was suggested he would try and get back this year for the 40th anniversary of the Falklands events but that's non starter for him the way this is going.
"It wouldn't surprise me in time if he loses his military patronages. "
Judge Lewis A Kaplan agreed and said Prince Andrew's motion to torpedo the case was "denied in all respects".
He said the 2009 agreement cannot "demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously" show the parties intended to "benefit Prince Andrew"
I think he is finished as a working royal
Phil Dampier
At this stage it's unclear whether Andrew will give evidence in person, via a video link or refuse to participate.
Virginia claims she was trafficked by the sick duo to be abused by Andrew after meeting him at a nightclub in London.
It is alleged that she was taken back Ghislaine's townhouse were she was forced to have sex with the royal, who was at the time aged 41.
He also claims he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by his pals Maxwell and Epstein.
Andrew could face a trial which may see him having to give a deposition to a US court - and a parade of witnesses trotted out regarding the allegations.
Virginia's lawsuit is the first time Andrew has faced action over her claims - which she first went public with in 2011.
The judge, speaking to Mr Brettler, said: “You know, for a certainty, that I’m obliged to accept as true, the well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint.”
He said, reading from allegations: “During this encounter, Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew forced plaintiff, a child, to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will.”
The judge added: “I must assume the truth of this allegation.”
Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, which includes rape in the first degree, and his attorney's have claimed his accuser has a "tendency to change her story".
They also previously warned that she could be creating "false memories" with her claims.
Virginia, now 38-year-old, claims she was enticed by the Duke of York's pal Maxwell and lured into paedo Epstein's sick sexual pyramid scheme.
She alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions - in London, New York and on Epstein's island Little St James.
Her legal team argue she was a "frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her" when she was allegedly abused by Andrew, saying "no person, whether President or Prince, is above the law".
Andrew is named as the only defendant in the suit, brought under New York state's Child Victims Act, but Epstein and Maxwell are mentioned frequently throughout.
She is seeking unknown amounts of compensation and punitive damages over the allegations.
Virginia claims she feared for her life when she was allegedly forced to have sex with Andrew, who is accused of having been aware of her age and status as a "sex-trafficking victim".
Court documents claim Ms Giuffre was "lent out for sexual purposes" by convicted sex offender Epstein including while she was still a minor under US law.
The docs add the alleged assaults "have caused, and continue to cause her, significant emotional and psychological distress and harm".
"Prince Andrew's actions, described above, constitute extreme and outrageous conduct that shocks the conscience," the lawsuit stated as it described the emotional distress suffered by Ms Giuffre.
"Prince Andrew's sexual abuse of a child who he knew was a sex-trafficking victim, and when he was approximately 40 years old, goes beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilised community," it added.
In an infamous Newsnight interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis in November 2019, Andrew denied claims that he slept with Ms Giuffre and said he had "no recollection" of ever meeting her.
He also said he has no memory of the well-known photograph of him with his arm around Virginia's waist at Maxwell's house, and has questioned whether the photo had been doctored.
The fallout from the interview saw the royal criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards Epstein's victims and a lack of remorse over his friendship with disgraced financier.
Andrew has previously pledged to assist with any investigation into his former friend, but there has been a long running war of words between his team and US prosecutors about how much assistance he has offered them.
Epstein hanged himself in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking offences.
And meanwhile Maxwell faces potentially spending the rest of her life in prison after she was convicted for her role in the scheme.
