To think this is odd in view of what’s already been said

I think PA and VG - both for different reasons - were advised by their legal teams to settle.

Presumably there is a chance that Maxwell will throw him under the jewel-encrusted carriage bus when her sentencing hearing comes up? Or does she no longer have anything to gain from this?

Must say I do think it a bit suspicious that ‘the’ photo can apparently no longer be found.

I am not in the least saying I believe PA, but I can’t say I blame him for settling, rather than going to trial. I have been a juror for a historic sexual abuse case and I did wonder at first who on earth I was going to believe, when it was one person’s word against another’s. And (despite our being told that we must keep an open mind) I was inclined to think that the defendant was almost certainly guilty.

However as the trial progressed it seemed increasingly likely that the accuser had an unreasonable major (financial) grudge against the defendant.

We had been instructed that unless we were 100% convinced of the defendant’s guilt, we must return a not guilty verdict. In the end it was 10/2 NG.

TBH the publicity and understandable prejudice against PA, given the company he was keeping, has made me think that almost any jury would have made up their minds right from the start - as had two of the jurors in our case.

As I posted on the other thread about this, Virginia Guiffre has backtracked on her previous remarks about refusing to take any money. She said it would send out the wrong message to some men that it is perfectly acceptable to treat women like meat providing you have the money to pay up if it starts to cause problems. I suppose everyone has their price and hers is £12m but she has let herself and women in a similar position down by not going to court. PA's car crash interview on BBC must have sent shivers down the spines of his legal team should he face the questioning from a top barrister. Coughing up the cash is the same as a guilty verdict to me. However, PA will still think he's the victim in all this. The most entitled of the Queen's children and the most unpleasant. £12m is a lot of money, he will have to cut back on Pizza Hut.

Not really sure what to think? He was determined to prove his innocence? 'That photograph' can't be produced. She said it was never about the money.

I thought he had paid her a sum as an individual and also promised an amount to chosen charities (which has just been announced on the radio news as 12 million pounds).
He is also now saying that he regretted his friendship with Epstein which is the complete opposite to what he said in that interview.

The ski chalet was worth £18 mill. he owed £7 mill on it. The settlement is rumoured to be £12 mill but of course he'll have legal costs on top of that so someone's coughing up for him. The Yorks have never been good at managing their money.

He has some pretty nice shadows to live in

I think he settled because he was told to, as other members of the family wanted it out of the way before the Platinum Jubilee celebratioms.

Although why that should be a problem I am not sure. The Platinum Jubilee celebrations are all about the Queen and he will not be part of them.

If it wasn't that I suspect that he is not going to go near the USA for a very long time, the best place for him would be with Donald Trump, hidden behind the walls of the Trump villa at Mar-a-Lago, endlessly playing golf. out of sight and out of mind.

Gwyneth

I was under the impression that as well as the millions paid to Guiffre he has in addition, made a substantial contribution to charities supporting those who have been trafficked.
I think he settled to save the Queen embarrassment and did not want to spoil her Platinum celebrations.
I’m not convinced this is the end though and am sure there will be more to come from Guiffre. Am not a fan of Prince Andrew at all. From what I’ve read about him he appears arrogant, spoilt and entitled. However, I’ve never been totally convinced of his guilt and a trial would have allowed a jury to decide having heard all the evidence from both sides.

I understood that he didnt pay anything directly to her, but donated to her chosen charity.

Going by the mess he made of the Emily Maitless interview, I suspect the royal family, in particular Charles and William did not relish the prospect of Andrew being questioned by a skilled barrister.

I was under the impression that as well as the millions paid to Guiffre he has in addition, made a substantial contribution to charities supporting those who have been trafficked.
I think he settled to save the Queen embarrassment and did not want to spoil her Platinum celebrations.
I’m not convinced this is the end though and am sure there will be more to come from Guiffre. Am not a fan of Prince Andrew at all. From what I’ve read about him he appears arrogant, spoilt and entitled. However, I’ve never been totally convinced of his guilt and a trial would have allowed a jury to decide having heard all the evidence from both sides.

“In the end, he had no option but to settle. Whether or not he slept with the trafficked teenager, or raped her, or sexually assaulted her, the Royal family’s reputation could simply not withstand a further battering.

Senior members of the family are understood to have made their position clear: he had to draw a line under the scandal that had dogged him for so many years, whatever it may take.

Stripped of his military titles and patronages, unable to use the HRH title with which he was born, cut adrift by his own family, Prince Andrew, who will be 62 on Saturday, now faces the prospect of living the rest of his life in the shadows.”

I think that’s why he sold his ski chalet. He needed the money for this.

From the Telegraph just now, headline:

“For 11 years the Duke of York’s accuser and her legal team relentlessly pursued their case until he was forced to settle out of court”

Pretty damning assessment.

I just wonder who is giving him the money Charles or Mummy?

I hope so too Valerie.

Am I the only one sick of it all? Nobody apart from the people involved know exactly what happened and one of them seems vague at best. Seems to me to be guilty by association more than actual deed but am looking at it from the little info I know. I am glad that, for the Queen’s sake, they have settled out of court and I hope, for my sake, it’s the last we hear of it ?.

silverlining48

Generally innocent people do not pay off their accuser. Given his close friendship with Epstein and Maxwell, both found guilty of sexual offences against young girls and the dreadful tv interview I believe him to be guilty. She was underage.

Yup.

MissAdventure

I don't think anything has changed.
His payment is an admission of guilt, as far as I'm concerned, which is what she wanted.

Agree with you entirely.

Varian, yes he was. I think i posted that on the other thread. He has never been respected. Randy Andy indeed.

He was ordered to settle by charles;.

Prince Andrew settles sex case with Virginia Roberts 'for £7.5million' after exasperated Charles orders him to agree payout before Queen's Platinum Jubilee:

Varian We have close friends in the navy and, unlike Prince Harry who was a popular and well respected member of the armed forces when he was in the army. Prince Andrew was universally disliked. He was considered arrogant, rude and thick.

We live near a naval air station and there has always been a lot of interest when members of the RF have been posted there.

When Prince Charles was posted there there were no rumours of mis-behaviour. A young woman I knew, the wife of a naval officer who was away at the time, was invited to be Prince Charles's partner at a dinner. She told me that his behaviour was very gentelmanly - beyond reproach.

Fast forward ten year to when Prince Andrew was stationed at the same naval base - he was known throughout the district as "Randy Andy"

It is all very sordid and I agree that his payment is an admission of guilt. However, the legal system is so complex, but if I was innocent I’d scream it from the hill tops!