TAXPAYERS’ did not pay a penny of Prince Andrew’s £7million court pay-out to Virginia Giuffre, the Treasury insists.
The Government finally allayed fears that ordinary Brits were picking up the bill for the Duke of York’s mega legal settlement.
Prince Charles is understood to be bailing out his younger brother, with the Queen also chipping in.
For weeks MPs – gagged by ancient rules from mentioning it in Parliament – have demanded to know if any public cash was being used after Buckingham Palace refused to comment.
Last night the Treasury at last revealed no taxpayer funds whatsoever have been siphoned to the embattled Duke’s fees.
They said: “No public money has been used to pay legal or settlement fees you refer to.”
New court documents released yesterday show the lawsuit has now been officially dismissed by the judge – which means the Duke of York has handed over the cash.
The final dismissal brings to an end a shameful episode for the Royal Family – but leaves many questions unanswered over the sex case.
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 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.”
Andrew 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.
