Prince Andrew insisted his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre agree to a year of silence to avoid jeopardizing Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022, his memoir has revealed.
Andrew on Friday renounced the use of his titles and honors, including his title as Duke of York, after facing increasing pressure from King Charles following the long-running Epstein scandal.
In her posthumous memoir published next Tuesday, Ms Giuffre sets out details of a close focus on abuse allegations against the disgraced prince and his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
She recounts how Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview was like a “jet fuel injection” for his legal team, and raised the possibility of “subpoenaing” his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and dragging them into the court case, according to The telegraph.
Ms Giuffre said she got “more” from Andrew than a $12 million payment and a $2 million donation to his charity because she had “a recognition that I and many other women had been victims and an unspoken commitment never to deny it again”.
The former Duke paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he never met her.
His 2019 Newsnight interview, in which he hoped to clear his name, backfired when he said he “didn’t regret” his friendship with convicted pedophile Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.
He was heavily criticized for his lack of sympathy towards the sex offender’s victims.
Andrew also said he had “no memory” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and added that he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with his daughter Beatrice on the day in question.
Ms Giuffre has alleged, which Andrew vehemently denies, that she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her platinum jubilee in 2022 – becoming the first British monarch to reach the milestone – as the civil trial against her son gathered pace. The issue was resolved just nine days after the 70th anniversary of his accession.
Ms Giuffre, who committed suicide in April, revealed in her book: “I agreed to a year of silence, which seemed important to the prince because it ensured that his mother’s platinum jubilee would not be any more tarnished than it had already been.”
In January 2022, a US judge ruled that the civil case against Andrew could go ahead, and the Queen subsequently stripped him of his honorary military duties, with the prince also renouncing his style of HRH.
In February of that year, court documents showed Andrew and Ms Giuffre had reached a “principle settlement” over the civil sexual relations claim.
Andrew made a “substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s victims’ rights charity” and pledged to “demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein” by supporting “the fight against the harms of sex trafficking and supporting its victims,” the legal documents reveal.
The settlement avoided a public trial, sparing the monarchy the controversy of a full investigation into Ms Giuffre’s claims, a year when the Queen was preparing to take part in a long weekend of June Jubilee celebrations.
The Queen’s favorite son stayed behind closed doors for the jubilee and missed the church service, after announcing the day before that he had Covid.
In her book, Nobody’s Girl, Ms Giuffre recounted how Andrew “stalled” his legal team for months before settlement discussions began to move very quickly when his deposition was scheduled for March 2022.
Ms Giuffre also wrote how she was “revolted” to see “two of my abusers together” when Andrew was photographed walking with Epstein in New York in 2011 and “astonished” that a member of the royal family would be “stupid enough” to appear in public with the convicted pedophile.
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.