Prince Andrew would have been a “disaster” on the stand if the civil sex assault case against him had gone ahead, a royal biographer has told Sky News.

Angela Levin said she was “completely shocked” by the royal’s settlement with Virginia Giuffre but understood why a repeat of his BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 would not be wanted.

Ms Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, made the claim against Andrew for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law. Andrew has always denied the allegations.

In a letter submitted on behalf of both parties to the United States District Court on Tuesday, Andrew’s legal representatives said he “never intended to malign Ms Giuffre’s character” and that he “regrets his association” with the disgraced financier.

Ms Levin said it was “extremely distasteful” for Prince Andrew to go from denying knowing Ms Guiffre to then apologise and praise her bravery in his statement.

She said she believed the Queen wanted a settlement to avoid more embarrassment and humiliation during her platinum jubilee year.

“Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer is fantastic at cross-examining people and we’ve seen how appalling Andrew was when he was interviewed in 2019. I mean it made you cringe and he thought at the end of it, it had gone very well,” Ms Levin told Kay Burley.

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“So, he’s not good to be put on the stand, to be asked lots of personal, intrusive questions. I think it would have been a disaster – but it just leaves a very nasty taste in your mouth.

“I feel that money has been handed over, or will be handed over, to brush everything under the carpet,” she added.

‘A settlement means both sides are seeking peace’

Gloria Allred, a US lawyer who represented several of Epstein’s victims, said the Duke of York’s settlement with Ms Giuffre now means that, without a jury trial, the public “will just have to decide who they believe”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Allred said: “This case will be dismissed, then each will go their own way and he will never end up testifying under oath, at least not this case, and the public will just have to decide who they believe.”

Read more:
What happens next now a settlement has been reached?
Can settlement be start of comeback for Duke of York?

She later added: “Lawsuits are war but a settlement means that both sides are seeking peace, and that’s what happened here.

“There will be peace now but this case will be remembered for many, many years to come.”

Public need to know who is paying settlement, says lawyer

There has been much speculation about the sum of money agreed in the settlement and one lawyer has said the Royal Family must make it clear that it will not be paid with public money.

Some people have estimated that the amount could be an eight-figure sum.

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Mark Stephens, media specialist at law firm Howard Kennedy, told BBC Breakfast: “The money is being used in three ways. The first part is to pay compensation to Virginia Giuffre.

“The second is to pay off her lawyers’ expenses and such like.

“And the third is, of course, that she’s leveraged his profile and there’s a large sum going to her personal charity to fight for the victims of sex trafficking and sexual abuse.

“Now that is a publicly traded charity – as I suspect it will have to be to get the benefits of the tax advantages – so we will see how much is paid in that account. That, I think, will give the public a clue.

“But I suspect that long before that is in the public domain, Andrew is going to have to confirm that the public hasn’t paid this, because that threatens to have wider implications for the Royal Family.”

What about Andrew’s title?

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MP for York Central Rachael Maskell told Sky News that 88% of people in her city want Andrew’s dukedom to be withdrawn.

Ms Maskell said the Duke of York’s relationship with disgraced financier Epstein has caused “deep hurt and embarrassment” to the city’s residents.

The Queen cannot remove the title herself and it would have to be done through parliamentary process whereby MPs bestow more powers on Her Majesty to be able to take the decision.

A young woman trafficked & exploited. She bravely spoke out. People of privilege, position & power tried to suppress & silence. This must be a turning point, where York is not a Duke's title but a people's movement to fight for the rights of women & girls.

Ms Maskell described this as an “anomaly in law that needs to be addressed”.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News the decision on titles “rests obviously with the palace in the future”.

Asked if the duke should be allowed to represent regiments, he said: “Well I don’t think he represents any of them at the moment, I think the palace took a decision that those titles were to be removed from him, so I think he is effectively acting now as a private citizen in so far as both addressing the challenges and the allegations.”

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