Prince Andrew is weighing up a legal bid to overturn the multimillion-pound settlement reached with a woman who accused him of sexual assault, and even force an apology, reports say.
In January last year, after the Duke of York was accused of sexual assault by late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, he was stripped of his HRH title.
Ms Giuffre alleges that she was forced to have sex with Andrew aged 17 by the financier and jailed socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew has vehemently denied these claims.
In February, the prince reached an out-of-court settlement of around £3m with Ms Giuffre, which included damages and a donation to her charity “in support of victims’ rights”.
He previously claimed he had no recollection of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and has continuously denied the allegations leveled by his accuser.
But the Prince Andrew team is now considering legal options, The Sun reports, after Ms Giuffre’s sex abuse case against high-profile US lawyer Alan Dershowitz was toppled, and new comments emerged from Ms Maxwell.
The report suggests Andrew hopes that overturning Ms Giuffre’s claim could let him return to royal duties.
US law would require the prince to argue legal reasons for overturning the deal, including mistake or accident.
Ms Maxwell, daughter of disgraced media mogul Robert Maxwell, who was jailed for child sex trafficking in connection with Mr Epstein last year, also paid out millions to Ms Giuffre in a separate lawsuit in 2017.
Speaking to CBS this week, the convicted sex offender said that Ms Giuffre’s claims were unfounded, and that she did not introduce her “dear friend” Andrew to the teenager.
For years, Ms Giuffre as maintained the line: “My goal has been to show the rich and powerful are not above the law and should be held accountable.”
The prince is believed to be getting support from Mr Dershowitz, who is of the opinion he never should have settled.
Meanwhile, Andrew reportedly thinks he was “bounced” into not fighting the case against Ms Giuffre by his own family, who wanted to avoid even more negative publicity.
“He never wanted to make a deal and has always insisted he is innocent,” a source said.
Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 amid scrutiny of his relationship with convicted paedophile Mr Epstein.
The late Queen stripped the duke of his military titles and royal patronages over the civil sexual abuse case brought against him by Ms Giuffre.
