Radar Online
Prince Andrew has been spotted for the first time following a judge’s ruling yesterday that he must either settle or face his sexual assault accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre in court.
According to pictures obtained by Radar, the 61-year-old prince was not looking happy this morning as he sat in the back seat of his nearly $110,000 Range Rover while being driven away from his Windsor Great Park home.
As Radar previously reported, a New York judge ruled yesterday that the embattled prince must face his accuser in a United States court. The trial, which is scheduled to kick off in September, is a major cause for concern for Prince Andrew and the rest of the royal family – not only because of the money such litigation would cost but also because of the potentially damning and reputation-destroying revelations that could potentially be shared during both Giuffre’s and Andrew’s testimonies.
Because of the potential dangers that may come if the duke lets the case go to trial, many experts are speculating that the prince will settle with Giuffre.
“Judge Lewis Kaplan has thrown a reasoned judicial decision like a bomb into the middle and the heart of the royal family and threatens to provoke constitutional crisis as a consequence,” Mark Stephens, an expert in constitutional law, recently said before adding that he thinks Andrew will offer Giuffre anywhere from $7 million to nearly $14 million to settle and avoid a trial.
“Essentially, I think he’s either going to have to engage in the trial process or he’s going to have to settle and that may well be his least worst option,” Stephens added. “There is a need to limit the damage. Andrew, I suspect will be stripped of his royal titles. A settlement of five or ten million [pounds] is a good bet but Ms. Giuffre may want her day in court.”
While some believe Giuffre may reject any settlement offer because she believes she deserves her day in court against the duke, her lawyer recently spoke out and said that may actually not be the case.
“I think Virginia is determined to go to trial, but settlement is always a possibility,” David Boies, Giuffre’s lawyer, recently hinted.
“There has been no suggestion of settlement discussions at this point. Prior to the time that we brought the case we reached out to Prince Andrew and to Prince Andrew’s lawyers and suggested mediation as a possible way of avoiding litigation,” Boies added.
“There was no interest in that at that time whether that has changed or not, I think, we’ll have to wait and see. A purely financial settlement is not anything that I think that she is interested in.”
