During the week, there was a memorial service for the late Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's husband, Prince Philip. The 95-year-old monarch is very frail, uses a wheelchair (but never publicly) and has a stair-lift at Buckingham Palace. It was touch and go whether she would even be able to attend the service at Westminster Abbey.
When she did arrive at the service, many were amazed that her second son, the reviled Prince Andrew, was chosen to escort her.
Prince Andrew helps Her Majesty to her chair
The reason Prince Andrew got this honour is very simple. He fell on his sword. He chose to settle rather than defend the civil case brought against him by Virginia Guiffre, in which she alleges she was forced to have sex with the Prince.
This was due to be heard in New York, starting in November this year. But the Queen did not want the case hanging over the royal family during this platinum jubilee year so she asked him to pay her off.
A settlement of twelve million dollars has been much speculated about. However, people who should know reckon it was more like $50K, and was paid to a charity, not Guiffre herself, and the Prince did not pay her legal costs.
The reason for this tiny settlement is as follows. Guiffre alleges they had sex in London and New York when she was seventeen (and Andrew was 22 years older!) But the age of consent is 16 in the UK, and 17 in New York state, so no crime was committed. So Guiffre's entire case revolved around coercion.
Virginia Roberts: A woman coerced
Proving coercion to a New York court was going to be an uphill task for Guiffre. She had already admitted receiving payments for sex, and flying around the world unaccompanied to various sexual liaisons, so coercion would be a hard case to make. The chances are she would have lost the case and Prince Andrew would have cleared his name.
But having fallen on his sword, Prince Andrew can no-longer clear his name because there will be no day in court for him. Hence his mother's gratitude.
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