London: The Queen would be asked to help fund any potential settlement the Duke of York pays his accuser, The Daily Telegraph understands.
The option to pay off Virginia Roberts Giuffre – who has accused him of sexually abusing her when she was 17 – has not been ruled out by Prince Andrew’s legal team as it faces the prospect of an exposing and potentially damaging trial.
Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations that he abused Virginia Giuffre. Credit:AP
The Queen has been paying the Duke’s legal fees since he first appointed a solicitor last February, shortly after the BBC interview in which he failed to show any regret over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The funds come from the annual income of her private Duchy of Lancaster estate, which recently increased by £1.5 million ($2.8 million) to more than £23 million.
For his part, Prince Andrew, 61, is selling the Verbier ski chalet he bought with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, in 2014 as a “family investment” with a mortgage and private funds from the Queen.
The couple put the property on the market when they were sued in September 2020 by the previous owner, French socialite Isabelle de Rouvre, who alleged that they owed her £6.7 million from the £16.6 million sale.
The Queen on one of her final public appearances last year.Credit:AP
de Rouvre, 75, has now dropped her lawsuit and is thought to have been paid the outstanding debt, although it is unclear how Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson came by the funds. It means that when the sale goes through and other debts are paid, they will have a small profit to put towards a potential settlement which would be billed as a means of protecting the Royal family from further reputational damage.
Sarah, 62, on Friday returned home from a skiing holiday at the seven-bedroom chalet with her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, their respective husbands and babies. Approached by a journalist at Geneva airport, she declined to discuss the Duke’s legal case but said: “Onwards and upwards”.
Queen would be asked to help pay off Prince Andrew’s accuser
Source: Philippines Alive
