Prince Andrew will not be able to repeat his claim that he did not rape Virginia Roberts Giuffre as part of the Jeffrey Epstein sex ring, under the terms of a confidential settlement reached over the weekend, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The agreement, thought to be worth £12m, bars both parties from discussing the case or the financial terms of its settlement for a period of time, according to the paper.
However, that bar may only last until the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, The Telegraph continues, suggesting Ms Giuffre may eventually be able to continue speaking publicly about what happened, or collect her recollections in a book or film.
The 38-year-old is expected to give a victim impact statement in June during the sentencing of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for sex trafficking, though she’ll likely not be able to discuss the Duke of York scandal at that point.
Prince Andrew says he intends to make a “substantial donation” to Ms Giuffre’s victims’ rights charity as part of the deal and “regrets his association” with Epstein, according to a joint statement released through their lawyers.
The confidential settlement means the public “will just have to decide who they believe,” according to Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented multiple Epstein victims.
“Lawsuits are war but a settlement means that both sides are seeking peace, and that’s what happened here,” she told BBC Radio 4. “There will be peace now but this case will be remembered for many, many years to come.”
Ms Guiffre, previously known as Virginia Roberts, claimed she was trafficked by convicted paedophile Epstein to have sex with the duke when she was 17, a minor under US law.
The settlement is not an admission of guilt, and Prince Andrew has always denied the allegation.
Last month, the Queen stripped the royal of his honorary military titles.
She is also reportedly expected to assist her second son in paying the terms of the legal settlement via her private Duchy of Lancaster estate.
Buckingham Palace declined to confirm whether this was the case. Donal McCabe, the Queen’s private communications secretary, told The Independent: “We have never commented on the funding of the Duke’s legal matters and won’t be now.”
