TW: Mentions of abuse
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Prince Andrew has been having a very rough time recently, following the release of court documents detailing names associated with the notorious trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew’s name was mentioned over 70 times, and depositions from accusers have claimed that he repeatedly took part in the murky gatherings organised by Epstein and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell - who has a dark family history herself.
Virginia Giuffre accused both the late Epstein and Prince Andrew of abusing her when she was 17 years old. In 2022 Prince Andrew settled out of court with Virginia in a New York civil lawsuit. This was in the hope that the story would die there, but unfortunately for the Duke of York there has been a massive resurgence of interest in the role he allegedly played in Epstein’s circle.
Now, Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz has said that Prince Andrew made one crucial mistake in the way he dealt with Virginia's accusations. Here’s what he said, and a run-down of his own involvement in the affair.
Prince Andrew’s ‘terrible mistake’
Back in 2022, Prince Andrew settled the case Virginia had brought against him. The precise amount he paid was never disclosed, but is rumoured to have been around £12 million.
This was to bring an end to the media buzz that came with her accusations.
However, the court documents released this month revealed more details. Virginia claimed to have been instructed to sleep with the royal once after being trafficked to London, and twice more back in the US, in Epstein’s house in New York and on his private island. A court filing from Virginia’s case against Prince Andrew explained that the young woman had feared she would face ‘death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew due to their powerful connections, wealth, and authority’.
Andrew never admitted liability, and has always denied the allegations. His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has stood by him, although she seems to have dialed back her support with the arrival of these documents.
However, Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz said that Prince Andrew settling the case was a ‘terrible mistake’. On Piers Morgan Uncensored, he was asked about the royal’s situation and he answered:
I think it was a terrible mistake for Prince Andrew to have settled the case. I wish he could reopen it because I don't think there was jurisdiction in the federal court. I don't think that there was the statute of limitations was satisfied. There are all kinds of legal issues that he could have won on. But I suspect his mother [Queen Elizabeth II] did not want the embarrassment that would have come out had he sat for a deposition.
He went so far as to say:
I think he could have won the case on legal grounds but I suspect that he was concerned about what would happen during a deposition, not about necessarily the person who accused him, but about his whole life because depositions are wide open.
Prince Andrew’s reputation has certainly taken a hit, as his name has been dragged through the mud by the scandal surrounding this affair. Interestingly, Dershowitz was also accused by Virginia.
Deshowitz's own legal battle
Deshowitz was another of the high-profile men Virginia named in her accusations. She stated that Deshowitz was introduced to her by Epstein when she was a teenager. She alleged that she slept with the then-Harvard law professor six times.
She detailed performing acts on Deshowitz and explained that he was ‘so comfortable with the sex that was going on that on one occasion he observed [her] in sexual activity with Epstein’. She explained that she had also witnessed the professor engaging in intimate activity with another ‘young’ girl. Deshowitz, in turn, accused her of being a ‘certified, complete, total liar’ who ‘simply made up the entire story for money’.
After Virginia sued Deshowitz for defamation in 2019, he countersued her for the same reason and a long back-and-forth legal battle ensued. This time, it was Virginia who settled at the end of 2022.
Dershowitz, somewhat bizarrely, campaigned for the now unsealed documents to be released to the public as he believed they would exonerate him. These are the very documents that contain Virginia’s detailed description of his alleged abuse but he says:
You have to look at all the exculpatory evidence and understand that I was framed.
Read more:
⋙ If Prince Andrew is evicted from Royal Lodge, where would he live?
⋙ Prince Harry and William: The 'secret code' the royal brothers use in extreme crisis revealed
Sources used:
Business Insider: Alan Dershowitz called for the release of Epstein court documents. In them, Virginia Giuffre alleges they had sex at least 6 times.
Newsweek: Jeffrey Epstein's Lawyer Says Prince Andrew Made 'Terrible Mistake'
