Prince Andrew was due to appear in court later this year amid his sexual abuse case. Indeed Virginia Guiffre accused the Prince of sexually abusing her when she was a minor in 2001. These allegations are linked to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile, who was friends with Prince Andrew.
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An out-of-court settlement
Earlier this year, it was announced that the Prince and Giuffre reached an out-of-court agreement, which meant that Prince Andrew would not be taken to trial later this year, as was originally planned.
However, it seems as though Prince Andrew’s oldest brother, Prince Charles will step in to help pay for the substantial sum, according to The Sun.
Read more:
⋙ Prince Andrew: The Queen will allegedly fund the sex abuse settlement
⋙ Prince Andrew: Will the public pay for his sexual abuse settlement?
⋙ Prince Andrew branded 'sex pest' by former royal massage therapist
A huge sum of money
The exact amount Prince Andrew is meant to pay Giuffre has not been disclosed, but it is believed to be around £12 million. However, Prince Andrew cannot afford this sum on his own, which means Prince Charles has to step in to help out.
Despite being the future King, Prince Charles doesn’t simply have millions of pounds ‘just lying around’, meaning that he would have to take out a loan to help pay for the settlement.
A family affair
It was allegedly Prince Charles’ idea to accept an out-of-court settlement as it was better for the Royal Family and for the public’s opinion. Indeed a trial would have been devastating to the Royal Family and their popularity would’ve dropped massively, as well as their reputation.
The Sun also reported that the Queen herself had helped with her son’s settlement, and donated £2 million to Giuffre’s charity. Furthermore, it is believed that Prince Andrew doesn’t want the money to be a gift from the Queen and Prince Charles as he intend to pay back the money by selling his French ski chalet, amongst other things.
If Prince Andrew were unable to pay the loan back before the Queen passes, the outstanding balance would be taken off his inheritance according to The British Daily.
