IT’S over. At the end of a case that made him look sleazy, evasive and ridiculous, Prince Andrew has settled with Virginia Giuffre in a New York court, presumably to avoid giving filmed testimony under oath.
She accused him of sexual assault and battery on three occasions when she was 17, trafficked by the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to provide sex to him and his friends.
But Andrew has a final move, as self-serving and absurd as his behaviour throughout the scandal.
Not content with repeatedly insulting Ms Giuffre, he now insists he will reinvent himself as an advocate for women’s rights, and against sex trafficking.
He said so in a statement this week, and I spat out my toast.
Women’s advocacy does not need him. God help us if they did.
There is a world in which Andrew could have met the fall of Epstein, and Virginia’s accusations, with something approaching dignity, grace and, above all, remorse. But he doesn’t have it in him.
His lawyers said terrible things about Virginia — and they all must have been sanctioned by Andrew himself.
“She has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense,” they said.
And: “For over a decade, Giuffre has profited from her allegations. Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money Giuffre has secured for herself over the years.”
These are repulsive things to say about a victim of sexual abuse. Andrew literally discovered the cause of sex trafficking by meeting, through his convicted paedophile friend, a trafficked girl, who accused him of assault and battery and whose character his lawyers have repeatedly maligned.
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Now he wants to reinvent himself as an advocate for trafficked women? What level of self-delusion is he operating on?
Some people say it is just another cynical attempt at rehabilitation, using Virginia again. Still, he said it — because he is vain and selfish. He still thinks of himself as the hero of the Falklands War and the Queen’s favourite son — and if he does something, it must be the right thing, because he has done it.
But no one thinks he is charming now. The public detest him — he is the most unpopular member of the Royal Family by far — and Palace servants speak openly about his awful behaviour with staff.
It’s the same entitlement, the same belief that he has something to contribute, no matter what.
Now Andrew has given Virginia up to £12million of his mother’s money.
I don’t blame the Queen for giving it, since it is going to Virginia and her charities, presumably from the Queen’s private funds.
Andrew is unemployable. Where else would he get it?
Even as he pays the money — but takes no responsibility, since paying the money is explicitly not an admission of guilt — he cannot stop being vain. And he can’t stop lying. “Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms Giuffre’s character,” his lawyers said in the statement this week.
So why did his legal team say what they did?
Failed at everything
“Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein,” they add.
So why didn’t he say so before in his Newsnight interview? And “regret” is not an apology. He has not apologised to Virginia, even now.
He also says, “to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein”, he will support “the fight against the evils of sex trafficking . . . by supporting its victims”.
Andrew has failed at everything since the Falklands.
He failed at his marriage, he failed as an ambassador for British trade (like his maids, the civil servants hated him), he failed as a tech guru (did you know he was a tech guru?) and he failed as a member of the Royal Family, who have now stripped him of his honours and cast him out.
He will fail at this because he fails at everything.
I hope victim advocates across the world speak with one voice now and say: Andrew, we don’t need you.
