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.

She was involved in “recruiting” other girls so arguably a “trafficker” (using same principle that led to Maxwell’s conviction)

Guiffre was groomed and a child, Maxwell was a willing participant and an adult.

Vilifying a victim, in such a high profile case, rarely ends well.

I'm sure arrogant Andrew thinks there's no reason he can't resume his royal duties.

However I'd imagine Charles and the men in grey suits think differently.

Very disappointing. Needed to see him sweat a bit more (or not).

I think settling is not the victory she said she wanted and leaves her open to accusations of wanting a payday. For him it’s the best option. Not sure how it fits with her previous tweets about it but maybe it was imposed on them.

@GrazingSheep

Will his royal status be restored now?

Hope not.

@drpet49

Well didn’t take long for her to sell out did it.

In this case you chose the victim to attack? Unbelievable.

Her lawyers will have advised her to settle. Rather than have the photo thrown out and lose. He would have had to perjure himself to deny it though. Wanker.

@AlternativePerspective

I think it was always about the money for her.

@LookItsMeAgain

Bet he was sweating about the prospect of having to give evidence in court!

I see what you did there

@BadgerStripes

Genuinely don't understand why he would make a 'settlement' if he is innocent? If it was me I would want to go to court to fight it. Can someone with knowledge of the law give your opinion, as it doesn't make any sense to me.

Even people with watertight cases settle because it’s just too expensive to pursue, and/or the reputational damage of a case being reported day after day for weeks is too damaging

@BadgerStripes

Genuinely don't understand why he would make a 'settlement' if he is innocent? If it was me I would want to go to court to fight it. Can someone with knowledge of the law give your opinion, as it doesn't make any sense to me.

I think they didnt want this playing out in Public.

His reputation is already in tatters but it threatened overshadowing the Queens Jubilee and dragging her reputation in mud, I can very well understand wanting it over and done with, rather than it being splashed all over the papers for weeks on end.

Not sure i have ever believed her anyway, I think she knew exactly what she was doing and is now after money

There's something wrong with an adult talking about a seventeen year old girl like that.

If she lost would she have to pay his costs?
In her shoes I’d have taken the money

If I was accused of something as serious as this hell would freeze over before I'd settle out of court. He's as guilty as sin and has used his wealth to wriggle off the hook. Despicable man.

@CorrBlimeyGG

She was involved in “recruiting” other girls so arguably a “trafficker” (using same principle that led to Maxwell’s conviction)

Guiffre was groomed and a child, Maxwell was a willing participant and an adult.

Vilifying a victim, in such a high profile case, rarely ends well.

I am in no way trying to defend her actions. However, there is definitely an argument that Maxwell was groomed and (at best) had a dysfunctional relationship with her parents (at worst, it was abusive). Such a damaged childhood (and this goes for most people) means that often the choices and actions they make when an adult aren’t the right ones.

Crap.

I really wanted him into Court not the least as a reminder that he might be part of the RF but he isn’t. above the laws

Very disappointing. Yet again the rich get away with disgusting criminal behaviour because they can afford to hire lawyers and pay off their accuser.

@AlDanvers

Settling will not include an admission of guilt. Plenty of settlements are reached, without the accused party actually being guilty.

I, also, very much doubt the Queen is paying his settlement.

That said, I think he knows what he was doing was wrong, even if his actions 'technically' were within the law.

I also imagine, the stories about the original photo being lost hasn't helped her.

I agree with all this. It makes him reek of guilt though IMO. Remember all that bravado initially about wanting his day in court? He finally got some good advice and was quietly but firmly told that court would be a disaster.

@BringBackCoffeeCreams Well said. He's scum.

Well, seems odd he's settled out of court if he's never met the woman.

Her principles didn’t last long. I can’t believe she did this!

Will they though? You only need to read this thread to see there are mixed views.

Even if it's 50/50 in the court of public opinion and 50% of people think he's ace/fine/okay, it's not a great look if 50% of the British public think you're a complete wrong 'un. He'll never escape this cloud.

From the BBC

Prince Andrew has settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by Virginia Giuffre, court documents show.
Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.
A document submitted to a US court on Tuesday said the duke and Ms Giuffre had reached an out-of-court settlement.
It said he would make a "substantial donation to Ms Giuffre's charity".
The document stated that Prince Andrew had "never intended to malign Ms Giuffre's character" and that he recognised she had "suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks".
It added that the duke pledged to "demonstrate his regret for his association" with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the "fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims".

You don't pay compensation for something you are innocent of.

@BringBackCoffeeCreams

If I was accused of something as serious as this hell would freeze over before I'd settle out of court. He's as guilty as sin and has used his wealth to wriggle off the hook. Despicable man.

I would imagine he was told in no uncertain terms to get this sorted as quickly & quietly as possible!

He can now disappear into the wood work and spend his days playing golf, arranging his teddy bears and yelling at the staff.

@Classica

Will they though? You only need to read this thread to see there are mixed views.

Even if it's 50/50 in the court of public opinion and 50% of people think he's ace/fine/okay, it's not a great look if 50% of the British public think you're a complete wrong 'un. He'll never escape this cloud.

But surely before settling more than 50% thought he was a wrong ‘un! If anything, this seems to somehow be improving the view against him (which was something I thought would be impossible to do).