Epstein's 2009 Settlement With Virginia Giuffre Won't Save Prince Andrew From Litigation, Media Says

The development comes as the royal's lawyers have accepted a lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre, who claims that she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York on at least three occasions, including when she was an underage girl. Her lawyers claimed that Prince Andrew has been hiding in his mansion, preventing them from serving papers on him.

Jeffrey Epstein's past court settlement with Virginia Giuffre won't save Prince Andrew from court, the Daily Mail has reported, citing two sources. Last week, the royal's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, made a statement during a court hearing in the US, saying that the Duke of York may be immune from a civil lawsuit Mrs Giuffre filed against him in August due to the settlement Epstein and the woman struck in 2009.

However, insiders have argued to the contrary.

"I don’t see how this applies to Prince Andrew", one source told the Daily Mail.

"This doesn't apply to friends or acquaintances. If Prince Andrew is relying on this for his defence, it won't go very far", said another.

The Socialite, The Royal, and The Monster

Virginia Giuffre is one of the alleged sex slaves of Jeffrey Epstein, a US financier who rubbed shoulders with the world's most powerful people – prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, and royals. Ms Giuffre claims that she became acquainted with Epstein after she was recruited in her teenage years as a masseuse by his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, a well-known UK socialite and daughter of billionaire Robert Maxwell.

The job offer as a masseuse turned out to be a ruse and Ms Giuffre, back then known as Virginia Roberts, was made a sex slave, who slept with Epstein and his powerful friends, she alleged. One of those friends was purportedly Prince Andrew.

In several lawsuits filed against Epstein, Viriginia Giuffre said that she was trafficked to London at the age of 17 where she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York.

"Do for him what you do for Epstein", Maxwell ostensibly told Virginia while en route to her mansion.

Ms Giuffre spoke publicly about the issue a decade ago, but the media didn't pay attention to the story. Everything changed in July 2019, when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in the US on charges of running a sex trafficking network of minors. Dozens of women have accused the financier of sexually abusing them. However, he didn't live to see the trial as he hung himself in a prison cell, though some people believe that the financier was murdered by his powerful friends, who feared they may be implicated in the scandal.

Since then, attention has turned to Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew. The latter has categorically denied the accusations. The royal said he has no recollection of meeting Virginia Giuffre despite there being at least one photo showing the prince standing together with Giuffre and Maxwell, with the royal's hand on the girl's waist.

Maxwell was arrested by the FBI last summer. She faces eight charges, including sex trafficking of minors and enticing minors as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts.

On Friday, it was revealed that following weeks of arguments Virginia Giuffre's lawyers had managed to serve court papers on Prince Andrew. His lawyers now have to file a response to a court in New York by 29 October.