Virginia Guiffre and Andrew settle out of court

[Suzanne999]

From Metro
Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre have reached a ‘settlement in principle’ in the civil sex claim filed in the US, court documents show

Does this show his guilt? Water down in some way his actions? I’m sure some will say this proves she was only in it for the money. I think she and a lot of underage girls were abused but because of the wealth involved those guilty will never face justice. Can’t understand why I feel sad about this outcome.

As much as you can argue why is he paying if innocent why is she settling if hes guilty?

Hmmm. That's what I thought too.

@ancientgran you think you can just get photos back from the FBI?

Does it make anyone wonder why you retain the 'royal' family, giving these people a status above the ordinary citizen of the United Kingdom? I'm not even talking about Andrew specifically but the idea of the co incidence or accident of birth giving people rights and wealth above ordinary citizens? I really don't get how people accept that, though am not British so maybe it's just a tradition that you don't want to let go?

@NinaDefoe

So basically the Crown Estates owned by the Queen (whilst she is in the throne) makes HM treasury a lot of money. The Royal family get 15-25% paid as a Sovereign grant.

But this is not all is it? The sovereign grant does not pay for all their costs, there are other funds made available for that. it is well documented that both the Queen and Charles have used public money wherever they can to avoid paying for things themselves. And they have vast portfolios and other assets which are nothing to do with the Crown Estates and which we do not know the extent of. Forbes estimates up to £88 billion for the whole family, which seems high. But they are not subsisting on 15 - 25% only.

[quote TatianaBis]@ancientgran you think you can just get photos back from the FBI?[/quote]
Yes, why wouldn't you? If law enforcement are finished with evidence they give it back.

@saoirse31

Does it make anyone wonder why you retain the 'royal' family, giving these people a status above the ordinary citizen of the United Kingdom? I'm not even talking about Andrew specifically but the idea of the co incidence or accident of birth giving people rights and wealth above ordinary citizens? I really don't get how people accept that, though am not British so maybe it's just a tradition that you don't want to let go?

Yes it does. They cost a lot of money for dubious value.

.

He is clearly guilty. The money shows that. And the Queen must be paying it as I understand he does not have enough money.

Nicholas Witchell on the BBC News just said 'what charity would want him?' when discussing the chances of Andrew's return to public life. When you've lost Nicholas Witchell.

😂

So true

He is part of a royal family, the most famous royal family. She could have had a video of him wanking off to child porn and he'd still get off with it. He was never going to jail. House arrest was the worst possibility for him, and in a Palace or castle that's not much of a punishment. Even if she won, that's all that would happen then. Not sure she would get much money. Least this way she has probably got more than she would otherwise, and that's only if he was found guilty. He might not be found guilty.

At least his image is ruined and she's got some form of compensation for everything she's been through for the past years. And it will likely let her start off life again somewhere and be out of the public eye.

@Danja2010

Can I please point out that Andrew was still friends and hanging out with Epstein after Epstein was convicted and guilty of grooming and sexual abuse ..went to prison no less ? !!!! There was other evidence, not just the photo, that he was with her and had relations with her. Sadly, with abuse victims they always have to prove more and somehow better that these things happened. Yet, we have people here that are still trying to make Virginia guilty of “ money grabbing “ and worse. I find it quite shocking.

What is the other evidence please, I only heard about the photo and guilty by association because he was friends with Epstein.

So basically the Crown Estates owned by the Queen (whilst she is in the throne) makes HM treasury a lot of money.

The CE are not owned by any person, but a legal entity titled 'The Crown'. It is state money, the sovereign grant being a deal cut by George III when he CBA with the responsibility of funding state infrastructure as the monarch.

[quote Innocenta]@HelloFrostyMorning Yep. There will always be people like you who support abusers. [/quote]
Oh for goodness sake please educate yourself. How can you be so convinced he is an abuser?

He met a young girl at a party and may or may not have slept with her, no crime was committed and no abuse took place. She would have been made available for him as was fairly common place in some circles at the time, a Prince would also have been a catch. She knew that but opted to stay and would have been well compensated. She always knew what she was doing and could have left the whole set up but chose not to.

I think he is a sleaze and have no respect for him either but I don’t believe her and this has always been about money, the last pay off ran out years ago presumably.

I wanted him to be on the stand.
I knew he would never be jailed - and yes I do know this is a civil case. But still he would never face jail time no matter what he did.

The whole hereditary principle is absurd in this day and age. Charles is unpopular, yet imagine if this individual had been the first born? Unelected, unaccountable, not there on any merit. Depressing to see this still exists in 2022

[quote TatianaBis]@ancientgran you think you can just get photos back from the FBI?[/quote]
Why would the FBI withhold it?

To what end?

Or they could issue a statement saying they had it.

She's also recorded as say it might be in storage in Australia.

Either way, I don't doubt her.

PA would have done far better imho at the start of this to say something like "yes, I had sexual relations with VG, however I believe they were consensual and had no idea she was aged 17 and was groomed/trafficked. I'm deeply shocked and sorry to hear her story and wish demonstrate my sympathy and remorse by donating a substantial sum to her charity and using my profile to support victims of sexual abuse."

He just got cocky and thought he could face off Matlis and deny everything with tall tales.

I'm not sure how this answers anything definitively. Bc even if he was innocent - and if we take that a "see the evidence stance" - PA would have had pressure to resolve it. PA has been a car crash of bad decisions all along.

What is very sad is that VG didn't take it to trial

I don't understand why she didn't and why she accepted money to make to go away, if it was never about money. I can't help but think she damaged her cause by accepting this so I'm even more confused by this latest development. I can't imagine any amount of money making someone on the side of right to agree to a settlement.

@saoirse31

Does it make anyone wonder why you retain the 'royal' family, giving these people a status above the ordinary citizen of the United Kingdom? I'm not even talking about Andrew specifically but the idea of the co incidence or accident of birth giving people rights and wealth above ordinary citizens? I really don't get how people accept that, though am not British so maybe it's just a tradition that you don't want to let go?

It’s not just us. Several European countries are monarchies.

The Telegraph are reporting that the Queen is paying over £12M
www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/02/15/queen-help-pay-12m-prince-andrew-settlement/

What is very sad is that VG didn't take it to trial

Everyone has a price. Sadly, if you’re damaged or have been abused, chances are you’re more vulnerable than most. £7,500,000 (at least, reports are it could be over £10,000,000) is a lot of money. Think about it. He’s already ruined reputationally. Unbelievable pressure to settle. 99% of people will cave.

** She has been accused of bragging about sex with andrew as well as of grooming other girls into coming into the set up.
Im not surprised hes paid to get this over with and im not surprised at all shes taken more money.
The whole thing is grubby and was never about justice in a criminal court it was always going to end in a monetary award**

^This.

She would have been made available for him as was fairly common place in some circles at the time, a Prince would also have been a catch. She knew that but opted to stay and would have been well compensated. She always knew what she was doing and could have left the whole set up but chose not to

God, you'd think people would try their best to hide their ignorant arsehole tendencies, but you'd be wrong 🤦‍♀️

@BreadInCaptivity You can’t be that naive surely?

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg has posted an open blog on his substack in which he explains that almost all civil cases are settled out of court and in his view this is a win for Virginia.

The dreaded DM mentions 7.5 million. Whether that is to the charity or to VG is not clear