A SECRET deal between Jeffrey Epstein and his “sex slave” Virginia Roberts Giuffre is set to be made public tomorrow.
The 2009 settlement had been kept under seal, but judges last month ordered it to be released on January 3 unless “good cause” could be shown otherwise.
Prince Andrew, 61, maintains that a clause in the agreement precludes him from being sued by Virginia – who alleges he sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17.
The now 38-year-old claims she was enticed by the Duke of York’s pal Ghislaine Maxwell, who was this week found guilty of helping to lure vulnerable teens to ex-lover Epstein’s properties for him to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
In October, Virginia’s lawyers agreed to hand over a copy of the settlement for Andrew’s lawyers to examine.
But his legal team have been lobbying for it to be placed on public record.
And they may now get their wish after judges Loretta Preska and Lewis Kaplan – who are overseeing the lawsuit against the duke – last month backed the claim and ordered it to be made public.
Andrew has not been charged with any crimes, but the prince is trying to have Virginia’s lawsuit dismissed.
Both sides have seen the multi-millionaire paedophile’s settlement and made use of it in their arguments, despite the fact it is secret.
Andrew Brettler, the duke’s lawyer, said the undisclosed documents will release him from liability as they cover “royalty” and anyone Virginia might sue.
But her lawyer David Boies countered that it applied “at most” to people involved in underlying litigation in Florida, where Epstein had a home and his “house of horrors”, and Andrew should not use it as a “get out of jail free card”.
Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, which includes rape in the first degree, and his attorney’s have claimed his accuser has a “tendency to change her story”.
They also previously warned that she could be creating “false memories” with her claims.
Virginia alleges she was forced to have sex with the prince by Epstein and his ‘madam’ Maxwell when she was 17 and he was 41 in 2001.
Oral arguments via video conference on the prince’s request to dismiss the case are scheduled for next week in the US.
High-powered lawyers for Andrew and Virginia will go head-to-head in New York on Tuesday to decide the future of her lawsuit.
COURT BATTLE
The prince is desperate to avoid a civil trial against his accuser — who could face his disgraced mate Maxwell in court at her sentencing.
He has consistently denied all allegations against him, but Virginia’s lawyers are said to be filing evidence demands, including medical proof that he is unable to sweat, as claimed in his car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019.
During the televised chat, the duke insisted he had no memory of ever meeting her, and said her claim that he was sweating profusely as they danced in London’s Tramp night club before the alleged assault could not have happened as he was unable to sweat.
He also said he had an alibi for that night as he was at a Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey – which Ms Giuffre’s lawyers also want proof of.
While Andrew’s fate is to be determined, Maxwell could spend the rest of her life in prison after being convicted of five out of six counts of sex trafficking for Epstein’s paedophile ring.
Epstein, 66, hanged himself in 2019 while facing trial for sex-trafficking girls.
