Why Virginia Guiffre's Latest Settlement Has People Calling Prince Andrew A 'Fool'

There have been rumors that Prince Andrew was Queen Elizabeth's favorite child, potentially fueled by it being mentioned in Season 4 of Netflix's "The Crown," per Elle. Favorite son or not, the queen and Prince Andrew had a close relationship; however, that didn't stop the queen from stripping her son of the official use of his HRH title, royal patronages, and military titles in January 2022 while he faced a lawsuit alleging sexual assault in the US, per BBC. By February 2022, Prince Andrew settled with Virginia Giuffre, who filed the case against him, out of court for an undisclosed sum, though he has continued to deny that he ever sexually assaulted Giuffre, via The Guardian.

Giuffre has said she was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking, and along with Prince Andrew, she named a number of other people, per Independent. One person was lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz denied the accusations and posited that she was just trying to get money with her accusations, to which Giuffre responded with a defamation suit in 2019 as did her lawyer, per CNN. Dershowitz then counter-sued for defamation. But those lawsuits are no longer active; claims from both sides have been dropped and a settlement reached. In a statement, Giuffre said "I now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz," per The New York Times. Some think that shows Andrew settled with Giuffre too soon in his lawsuit, per Daily Mail.

In a statement outlining what may have happened that led her to accusing Alan Dershowitz of sexual assault when she was an underage girl, Virginia Giuffre said "I have long believed that I was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Alan Dershowitz. However, I was very young at the time, it was a very stressful and traumatic environment, and Mr. Dershowitz has from the beginning consistently denied these allegations," according to The New York Times. Some feel that this admission makes Giuffre unreliable, which would potentially mean the accusations against Prince Andrew were also a case of mistaken identity, per Daily Mail. While others think that Prince Andrew's celebrity status of a member of the royal family would make him hard to mistake.

Dershowitz said he was thankful that Giuffre came to realize she had pointed a finger at the wrong man in his case and said that "Ms. Giuffre is to be commended for her courage in now stating publicly that she may have been mistaken about me. She has suffered much at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and I commend her work combatting the evil of sex trafficking," per CNN. There's not been any public reaction to the news from Prince Andrew or the royal family.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).