Prince Andrew sex assault case closed after settlement paid

NEW YORK: A sexual assault lawsuit brought in New York against Prince Andrew by his longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre has been formally dismissed after the disgraced British royal paid a financial settlement, court documents showed Tuesday.

In February, the parties had settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, sparing the second son of Queen Elizabeth II the public humiliation of a trial.

Both parties filed a “stipulation of dismissal” of the case in federal court in New York, which was signed by Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday.

Last month’s agreement had stated that the parties would file a motion for dismissal “upon Ms Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement,” suggesting the settlement has been paid.

Giuffre, 38, has said she had sex with Andrew when she was 17 — a minor under US law — after meeting him through the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In 2019, Epstein took his own life in a New York City jail cell, while awaiting his own trial for sex crimes.

The prince, now 61, has not been criminally charged and has denied the allegations.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Andrew was to pay £10 million (US$13.1 million) to Giuffre and £2 million to a charity for victims of sex trafficking.

In January, Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles as well as his remaining charitable roles.

He withdrew from public life as a royal in 2019 after a widely ridiculed BBC interview in which he sought to vindicate himself of Giuffre’s accusation.

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