A US judge on Tuesday ordered that Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew in New York be dismissed after the two parties reached a settlement, a court filing showed.
US district judge Lewis Kaplan signed court papers dismissing the August lawsuit after lawyers on both sides asked him to do so. The judge had given them until 17 March to complete the deal or he would set a trial date.
Attorneys for Andrew and Giuffre had filed with a federal judge formal notice to dismiss the lawsuit between them, as both parties have officially settled the case.
Last month, Andrew agreed to settle the civil suit filed by Giuffre regarding allegations of sexual assault. The payment was not disclosed but was thought to be between $13m and $15m.
The stipulation of dismissal filed on Tuesday said that both parties “hereby stipulate to the dismissal of this action, with prejudice”, adding that each party would “bear her/his own costs and fees”.
Giuffre alleges she met Andrew through the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, and his sometime girlfriend, the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Giuffre alleged the prince sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17.
Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations. The settlement announced in February made no admission of guilt.
The settlement also stated that Andrew had “never intended to malign Ms Giuffre’s character” and said he recognized she had “suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks”.
The settlement also said Andrew would make a “substantial donation” to Giuffre’s charity in support of sexual assault victims.
In 2009, Epstein and Giuffre settled a civil lawsuit for $500,000. Giuffre accused Epstein of trafficking her to Andrew.
In January, Andrew was completely removed from official royal life. The Queen stripped him of his honorary military roles and royal patronages amid the sexual assault case.
