Prince Andrew Reportedly Set to Pay $13 Mln to Sex Abuse Accuser Guiffre in Out-of-Court Settlement

Earlier this week, a US district judge rejected a bid by Prince Andrew to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's civil lawsuit, which accuses him of raping her when she was 17. The ruling means that the royal may face a civil trial in the US if an out-of-course settlement is not reached.

Prince Andrew plans to pay £10 million ($13 million) from the sale of his Swiss chalet in an out-of-court settlement with sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre, The Sun has reported.

The newspaper also quoted Giuffre's lawyer David Boies as saying that he thinks Virginia "is determined to go to trial", but that a "settlement is always a possibility".

The remarks come after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the Duke of York to face a civil trial this autumn over claims he sexually abused Giuffre when she was 17, allegations that Prince Andrew vehemently denies.

In the civil lawsuit, Giuffre insisted that she was forced by the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with Prince Andrew in 2001.

Last month, Maxwell was was found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sexual encounters with Epstein, who, officials declared, committed suicide in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in August 2019 for illegal sex acts and lying to US federal investigators.

Earlier this month, a New York court unsealed a confidential deal reached between Epstein and Giuffre in 2009.

According to the deal, Giuffre was paid $500,000 for agreeing not to sue anyone connected to Epstein who could be viewed as a "potential defendant".

Prince Andrew admitted to his friendship with Epstein during a "bombshell" interview with the BBC in November 2019.