PRINCE Andrew has paid his £7million settlement with sex accuser Virginia Roberts after she agreed to drop the case.
New court documents released today show the lawsuit has now been officially dismissed by the judge – which means the Duke of York has handed over the cash.
Andrew had been given ten days to the hand over the money so that Virginia would officially drop the case after reaching a settlement agreement last month.
New documents released today confirmed the stipulation that the case would be dismissed once the settlement had been paid.
And it was signed off by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
He wrote: “Based on the foregoing stipulation of the parties, and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is dismissed with prejudice.”
It is understood Andrew’s brother Charles, 73, is stumping up most of the agreed £7million with the Queen also chipping in — but no public cash is being used.
He will pay back Charles and Her Majesty, 95, when he gets the cash from the £17million sale of his ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, which could take two months.
If he fails to repay, Andrew will lose money from the will of the Queen, who is believed to have funded his legal battle.
The Celeb Report understands that it was Prince Charles who told Andrew to settle after lawyers said the Duke would give a witness statement to rape accuser Ms Giuffre’s civil case in New York.
The royals feared a disastrous repeat of his heavily criticised Newsnight interview in 2019.
In it, Andrew told of his dealings with convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein — found dead in jail in 2019 while held on sex trafficking charges.
He said he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Epstein sex slave Ms Roberts Giuffre but was accused of having sex with her three times in 2001 when she was 17.
Speaking on the decision to loan Andrew the money, a source said: “There were family discussions about how to ‘take a little from here and a little from there’.
“Once it (money from the chalet) hits his bank account, he can pay back his brother and whoever else has lent him money.
“But that payment (to Virginia) has to be paid on time. He can’t rely on selling the chalet. Too many things can go wrong and the court won’t wait for property queries.”
A friend of Andrew added: “He has no income or money to repay a bank loan so the family is the only way to guarantee the payment.”
Prince Andrew, who lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson at 31-room room Royal Lodge at Windsor, will pay Ms Roberts Giuffre, 38, around £7million.
It includes a sum to her charity for sex trafficking victims.
