Reportedly, The Queen is privately funding her son Prince Andrew's legal battle against sex assault allegations. The Duke of York is being sued for the sexual assault of a juvenile, and his mother, the Queen, is assisting him financially. The Queen is supposedly paying for the legal fees of the case since Prince Andrew has no source of income.
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The case will be funded using the money from her majesty’s Duchy of Lancaster holding. The total legal bill is estimated to be in the millions of dollars, with the civil litigation expected to last months or even years. Apparently, the Queen has already spent millions of pounds on the case even though it is just getting started.
Legal Team Expansion
Prince Andrew has been accused of sexually abusing Victoria Roberts Giuffre when she was 17 at the home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in London. Although he has denied all the accusations, he has expanded his legal team of defense. He just added Melissa Lerner to his legal team in America, where she will work alongside lead counsel Andrew Brettler. The case is said to be exceedingly costly, with Mr. Brettler reportedly charging $2,000 per hour.
Additionally, Prince Andrew must also pay his UK legal team, which is headed by Gary Bloxsome, a criminal defense lawyer. The prince's legal team in the United Kingdom is apparently keeping the Queen up to date on the case's progress.
No Discernible Income
The duke is said to have no source of income and may soon be without a home after the sale of a £17 million chalet in the Swiss Alps. He bought it with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson in the Verbier ski resort. Prince Andrew currently lives at Royal Lodge, which is part of the Queen's 4,500-acre Windsor estate.
The source of Prince Andrew's wealth is a closely guarded secret. Speaking on the arrangements, David McClure, a royal finance expert, said:
Prince Andrew’s finances are shrouded in a pea soup of impenetrability. This is symbolized by the fact that no one knows how he was able to get a mortgage for some £13m to buy a luxury ski chalet in Verbier in 2014. He has an affluent lifestyle, but where does the money come from? He has no discernible income.
In the most recent development in the case, Prince Andrew's lawyers have secured Virginia Roberts Giuffre's 2009 agreement to settle her civil claim against Epstein. His team believes that the terms of the agreement will release Prince Andrew of ‘any and all liability.’
