The agreement announced Tuesday between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, the American who accuses him of sexual assault, allows the British royal family to “move on” and preserve the image of the monarchy, in this year when Elizabeth II celebrates her 70 years of reign.
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His second son, aged 61, was threatened with a civil lawsuit in New York (United States). But an amicable agreement has been announced between the Duke of York and the 38-year-old American, former victim of American multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who sued the prince for sexual abuse when she was 17, facts he has always disputed.
According to Penny Junor, specialist in the British royal family, the latter will be able to turn the page.
“I think if Andrew is no longer in the spotlight, his name is no longer mentioned in the newspapers, (…) then I think the family can move on. Everyone can move on,” she told AFP.
To protect the monarchy, Elizabeth II had already taken measures, last month depriving Andrew, long described as her favorite son, of any official role.
Under pressure from the military, the Duke of York, who can no longer use his title of Royal Highness, had also been deprived of his military titles, an additional humiliation.
He had already had no public activity since a calamitous television interview in 2019, where he was questioned about the accusations against him. He had categorically denied, without the slightest empathy for the victims and without regret for his links with Jeffrey Epstein.
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While Penny Junor believes the deal announced Tuesday is “good for the family,” she notes that “it means, of course, that we will never know if Andrew was innocent or guilty.”
“And that means in my view that he can never go back to any kind of royal work,” she said.
With the threat of a trial averted, the royal family can hope to divert media attention to what they see as the event of the year: Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign, her platinum jubilee.
Festivities in honor of the 95-year-old queen are planned across the country for four days in early June, with a military parade, a concert in London, a pudding contest, a picnic among neighbours, and more.
A crucial year to rekindle the love of the British for the royal family, shaken recently by several scandals, such as the departure of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, exiled to the United States, from where they launched accusations of racism.
The queen, who had health concerns in October, is increasingly passing the baton to her son Charles, 73. Preparing for her succession, she recently expressed her wish for the Crown Prince’s wife, Camilla, to become queen consort after his death.
Elizabeth II ascended the throne at the age of 25, on February 6, 1952, the same day her father, King George VI, to whom she was very attached, died of lung cancer at age 56. She has since crossed, imperturbable, times and crises and remains very popular.
However, she is not immune to a new scandal that could spoil the party. In a book to be published this year, Prince Harry, son of Charles and Diana, may well launch new criticisms of the institution, sometimes nicknamed “the firm”.
Tabloid The Mirror recently claimed, quoting an unnamed friend of Harry’s, that the book will “shake the monarchy”.
Penny Junor hopes that “this year the focus (is) on the Queen and her achievements and not on the other members of the family. (…) I hope Harry and Meghan will shut up in America and do nothing controversial or disruptive to this year of Queen’s celebrations”.