Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, has yet to repay an alleged loan of 12 million euros from the British royal family, which was used to settle with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual abuse, The Sun reported.
At the settlement in 2022, allegedly the late Queen Elizabeth II. she received €7m plus €3m from Prince Philip’s estate a year after his death. Then-Prince Charles paid about 1.5 million euros, with several other members of the royal family contributing, to stop Giuffre’s sexual abuse case against Andrew.
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Citing a source, the report said that the former prince has not yet paid a penny. Sources said Andrew planned to use the proceeds from the sale of the €19 million property to pay off a loan he allegedly took from his family to settle claims made by Giuffre. However, his plan to sell his Swiss ski chalet to pay back millions in loans collapsed after he reportedly made almost no profit on the sale. The chalet, located in the luxury Swiss resort of Verbier, was saddled with significant mortgage debt.
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Andrew didn’t return anything
“As far as anyone knows, he still hasn’t paid back a cent of the millions he borrowed. The money from the royal family bought her silence but denied Virginia her day in court and the chance to openly challenge his account of what happened,” the report added, citing a source.
Did the royal family save Andrew?
According to the report, the Windsors agreed to the settlement in the belief that it would help draw a line behind the scandal ahead of their Platinum Jubilee in February 2022. The royal family has reportedly decided to “take a little bit from here and a little bit from there.”
Queen Elizabeth II she was very aware that the issue would not be properly resolved during her lifetime and that his brother Charles would have to deal with it when he died, the source said.
The royal family urged then-Prince Andrew to settle because they feared a repeat of his 2019 Newsnight interview where he denied sexual assault allegations by claiming he had been at Pizza Express in Woking.
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Giuffre’s allegations against Andrew
Giuffre, who was one of the most prominent victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, wrote in her posthumous memoir that Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with the former prince three times, including once when she was 17.
Andrew, who reportedly claimed he had never met Giuffre, still paid millions to settle the civil case, which ensured he would not have to face Giuffre in a US court.
Writing the settlement, Giuffre said: “After questioning my credibility for so long – Prince Andrew’s team even went so far as to try to hire internet trolls to harass me – the Duke of York also owed me a meaningful apology.
Severed ties with Epstein: Andrew
The report suggests that Andrew concealed the extent of his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Epstein from his family, who helped him pay off the victim. He also later claimed that he cut ties with Epstein in 2010 after he was released from prison for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
However, recently released documents from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) showed that his correspondence with Epstein continued into the late hours.
Prince Andrew stripped of his title
Once the revelations were made public, King Charles III. announced plans to strip Andrew of his titles and kick him out of his Royal Lodge at Windsor.
With chatter growing about Epstein’s files and several prominent names, it remains to be seen whether Andrew will be formally investigated over allegations that he shared confidential information with Epstein while working as a trade emissary.