Tag: prince andrew

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Prince Andrew royals Virginia Giuffre

David Boies: If Prince Andrew wants to overturn the settlement, let’s go to trial

david-boies:-if-prince-andrew-wants-to-overturn-the-settlement,-let’s-go-to-trial

About thirteen months ago, Prince Andrew settled with Virginia Giuffre after an American court said that Virginia’s lawsuit could proceed. Andrew settled with Virginia for anywhere between $7-20 million, reports vary. There were plenty of reasons why he settled with Virginia at that particular moment – his pre-trial defense was a mess, Andrew was just days away from a deposition, and it was his mother’s Jubilee year and the palace leaned on him to settle the issue. Now that QEII has passed away and Virginia is reportedly writing a memoir, Andrew keeps leaking all of this sh-t to the British media about how he wants his settlement reversed and how he’ll “sue” Virginia (his rape victim) for $100 million if she “defames” him. Well, Virginia’s lawyer David Boies has made some new comments about what happened during the settlement negotiations and how Andrew is full of sh-t.

David Boies commented on reports that Andrew wants to overturn the settlement, saying: “If they want to get out of the settlement all they have to do is call me and let me take Andrew’s deposition and go to trial.” The case was settled just a week before Andrew was due to be deposed.

Boies told the Mail: “From our side we said there had to be a substantial amount of money and there had to be an acceptable statement from Prince Andrew. Those were really the two initial stumbling blocks and they were resolved within a few hours of each other….Prince Andrew just wanted out. He was realistic enough not to have any demands. He just wanted to pay not very much money and didn’t want to acknowledge Virginia or what he’d done… his position was that Virginia had made all this up and wasn’t really a victim.”

Boies told the Mail that Andrew “claimed he didn’t know anything about Epstein’s sex trafficking and had nothing to apologize for.”

The lawyer said of Andrew’s dramatic decision to settle with Giuffre: “I can’t think of a turnaround that changed as dramatically in such a short a time as this one did. I have a sense that Andrew probably had mixed emotions. I suspect there was a substantial amount of relief but also a substantial amount of discomfort as to what he had to acknowledge and the amount of money he had to pay.” Boies declined to comment on the financial terms of the settlement.

Boies said a memoir by Andrew might “help his reputation, depending on what it said….I believe both as a matter of religious faith and human compassion in the possibility of redemption. I would not put Prince Andrew or any other child of God beyond the possibility of redemption but redemption has to begin with the admission of sin and thus far he has been disinclined to do that.”

[From The Daily Beast]

“If they want to get out of the settlement all they have to do is call me and let me take Andrew’s deposition and go to trial.” That’s it. That’s all there is to it. For all of Andrew’s bluster, all of his huffing and puffing about how he’ll seek redemption by suing Virginia Giuffre, that path always leads straight to a deposition and a trial. Andrew has spent months crying about how he needs to get justice – well, come to America, be deposed by David Boies, sit for an interview with the FBI and let’s do this. Let Virginia have her day in court too. As for the “substantial” amount of money he paid Virginia in the settlement – there’s been a stupid amount of backtracking there as well. I believe the initial reporting, which made it seem like Andrew had to borrow something like £12 million from his mother to settle with Virginia.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

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Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew ‘may have to write a memoir’ to make some money, lmao

prince-andrew-‘may-have-to-write-a-memoir’-to-make-some-money,-lmao

Prince Andrew is so sad and pathetic, you guys. It’s actually just… funny. Andrew is a human trafficker, credibly accused rapist, nonce, friend-of-Epstein, friend-of-Ghislaine and total liar. And yet he continues to employ a top-notch private-sector PR team and he tasks them with making him sound so arrogant and yet so pathetic. Some recent classics of the genre: Andrew is innocent because of the size of a bathtub inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home; Andrew wants to do another TV interview to “clear his name”; and Andrew is incandescent with despair because King Charles won’t share his inherited loot. As I’ve said before, many of these stories seem to have an audience of one: Andrew is communicating with Charles via the press. Not just communicate, Andrew is often threatening Charles and openly suggesting that he too could sell out family secrets if Charles doesn’t keep him in the lap of luxury to which he feels he’s entitled. Keep that in mind for this new story: Andrew wants to write a tell-all memoir too!

Prince Andrew “may have to write a memoir” in order to bolster his ailing finances, a friend of the prince has told The Daily Beast, following reports that he was left out of the queen’s will, and her entire estate passed to King Charles.

The friend said, “He has done everything he has been asked to do. He settled the lawsuit, he kept a low profile, he hasn’t complained. His mother always valued his loyalty. She would be aghast at his allowance being reduced. He may have to write a memoir.”

Asked if writing a memoir was a serious prospect that Andrew has actually talked about, the friend said: “It’s being talked about regularly. Sarah has had real success with her books and has great publishing contacts. Harry’s book has proved that there is no shortage of appetite for stories about the royal family. Why shouldn’t Andrew tell his side of the story now his mother is gone?”

Sarah’s books are published by the romantic imprint Mills and Boon, which is part of Harper Collins. An email to Harper Collins’s non-fiction division, asking about the possibility of publishing an Andrew memoir, went unanswered. Several other publishers approached by The Daily Beast declined to comment, which hints at just how controversial publishing his memoir would be, especially if it took aim at his sex abuse accuser, Virginia Giuffre. Given the toxicity of Andrew’s reputation it seems likely that mainstream publishers would not want be seen giving him a huge payday.

He may face an uphill struggle to secure a lucrative deal with a reputable publisher; one independent publisher told The Daily Beast: “I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.”

However, another literary agent told The Daily Beast that any book by Andrew, while not in the same commercial league as writings by Harry or Meghan, could fetch “several million” dollars.

Asked if reports that Virginia Giuffre is contemplating publishing a book were contributing to Andrew’s thought processes around doing a memoir of his own, the friend of Andrew’s said they didn’t believe it was “a major factor.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Andrew: Screw you, I’m going to write a tell-all memoir! *leaves in a huff*


Andrew, one day later: It turns out, no one wants to give a credibly accused rapist a book deal, so I could still get to live rent-free at Frogmore Cottage, right?

That’s basically it – Andrew is so delusional that he thinks he could get himself the same kind of lucrative deals that Prince Harry has managed to secure. The problem is, no one cares. Andrew’s threats are worse than hollow – they’re doing even more damage to his position. He hasn’t kept quiet this entire time, he’s been whining loudly for YEARS about how he’s desperate to come back and how he deserves this or that. I think Charles is a f–king disaster in all things, but I don’t blame Charles for basically showing Andrew how powerless he is now.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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King Charles III Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew is in ‘despair’ because King Charles won’t ‘share’ his inheritance

prince-andrew-is-in-‘despair’-because-king-charles-won’t-‘share’-his-inheritance

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s wills were both sealed. No one will know whether Philip left money to random exes or any secret children. No one will know if QEII left a chunk of money to her grandkids or her “favorite child,” Prince Andrew. After Philip’s death, Andrew did seem to act like he had gotten a big inheritance. Andrew was apparently bragging to everyone about getting a big inheritance from his mother too, and he was already planning on using the money as a “war chest” to clear his nonce name. Only… maybe that didn’t happen? This story is very strange – apparently, Andrew is mad at King Charles for not “sharing” the money left to him by QEII.

Prince Andrew has been left “bewildered” that he has not yet received any inheritance from Queen Elizabeth II, royal sources have claimed. After the Queen’s death last September, her £650 million Duchy of Lancaster estate was automatically left to King Charles.

However, Prince Andrew, 63, is said to have told friends he feels “despair” that the King has not shared any of his new wealth among his siblings. According to the Daily Mail, Prince Andrew feels an amount of “resentment” at the situation.

A palace source told the paper that the Queen’s fortune had passed directly “from monarch to monarch” because that was the most “tax efficient” way to transfer it.

In 1993 new legislation was passed under Sir John Major which meant inheritance tax did not have to be paid on the transfer of assets from one sovereign to another. As a result, the estate was left in its entirety to the new monarch, as opposed to being divided among family members.

A friend of the Yorks said: “Andrew is in despair. He’s been left completely in the dark. Andrew’s a member of the family, for God’s sake, yet he had no idea this was coming. I gather he’s checked it out and it’s true. It’s all gone “monarch to monarch”. What’s he meant to do? Go cap in hand to his older brother to keep a roof over his head? Things are going from bad to worse. It’s a disaster.”

[From The Telegraph]

It’s hilariously awful to picture Charles’s sad-sack face as he complains, “how would one even begin to share £650 million?” But I have a question – is Andrew upset that Charles hasn’t given him an inheritance “owed” to him by the terms of QEII’s will, or is Andrew upset that Charles hasn’t suddenly shared his largesse in general? I sort of understand in any case – Charles is making this big, stupid deal about “evicting” the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage, just so Andrew could live there (rent free) after being evicted from Royal Lodge. All of these property swaps because Charles won’t use Duchy of Lancaster money to simply fund his nonce brother’s excessive lifestyle! I don’t know. The whole “penny-pinching Windsors” was always a fake narrative, especially given the fact that Prince William and Kate are just a few months away from demanding extensive renovations on their fifth home, Royal Lodge.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Prince Andrew royals

Prince Andrew is considering offers for another disastrous TV interview

prince-andrew-is-considering-offers-for-another-disastrous-tv-interview

Prince Andrew’s life has been in freefall (by his standards) for four years. Everything hit the proverbial fan in 2019, when Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, again, for sex trafficking. Epstein’s arrest brought up a lot of terrible history for Andrew, and after Epstein’s mysterious in-custody death that summer, Andrew decided to set the record straight in a BBC interview. The Newsnight interview aired in November 2019. It was an unmitigated disaster. What followed was years of back-and-forth about Andrew “stepping away” from public life and public duties, only to keep coming back even though no one wanted him. His mother tried to protect him and help him repeatedly, only to eventually give him millions of dollars to settle out of court with one of his rape victims. The Newsnight interview was “the start” of all of that. One would think Andrew would be desperate to avoid a repeat. But nope – apparently, he’s considering another sit-down interview.

Prince Andrew is considering giving a new tell-all interview as he seeks to find a way back into the royal fold. The disgraced Duke of York has told friends he believes he has a chance of redemption after being embroiled in a sex abuse scandal, which he vehemently denies. Sources say Andrew has warmed to the idea of “telling his side” of events over the last two years, since his disastrous appearance on BBC Newsnight in which he said he had an inability to sweat.

A source close to the Duke said: “Nothing is off the table. Andrew has been made to give up his job and now potentially his home. He feels there is little else to lose when he has already paid an awfully high price.”

Sources say the Duke favours a US broadcaster after taking note of Prince Harry’s exposure during a recent promotional tour for his explosive memoir, Spare.

Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who he still lives with in his 30 room Windsor mansion Royal Lodge despite the King ordering them to leave, has been slowly lifting the lid on the Duke’s plight. Fergie, who last week described the Duke as “poor Prince Andrew”, has also met with US journalist Daphne Barak.

We can reveal the Duke has been approached by at least two major US broadcasters with offers of an interview taking place in the UK. Andrew has not been to the US since the FBI announced they wanted to speak to him as a witness as part of the investigation into the associates of the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The King and other senior royals such as the Prince of Wales are likely to be infuriated at the thought of Andrew returning to the spotlight. The monarch believes his brother should “fade into the background”, according to royal sources.

Andrew has been offered Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s five bedroom Frogmore Cottage after the eviction of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Andrew is also furious that the King may ban him from wearing ceremonial robes to his May 6 coronation. A royal source said: “To say relations between the two brothers is a little fraught at present would be a huge understatement.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

While I have no doubt that Prince Andrew is stupid, vile, pompous and egotistical enough to believe that he could explain away his problems in another interview, I think it’s far more likely that this story has an audience of one. This is Andrew’s message to King Charles: back off, give me what I want or I will embarrass the hell out of you and the entire family. Before the Frogmore Cottage and Royal Lodge eviction stories came out, it was widely believed that Charles was taking pains to “take care” of Andrew simply so Andrew wouldn’t do anything like this, like sitting down for a TV interview and expressing more sympathy for a pedophile than for rape victims. Charles’s attempt to evict Andrew from Royal Lodge has changed the math – if Andrew can be evicted willy-nilly, then what’s stopping him (or any other family member) from doing paid interviews and spilling royal tea? In any case, I kind of hope Andrew gets caught in some kind of FBI dragnet scheme – “we’ll pay you $3 million for an exclusive interview, just fly into New York” and then the FBI is waiting at the airport.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.

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Prince Andrew royals

Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge is ‘falling down,’ it has a mold problem

prince-andrew’s-royal-lodge-is-‘falling-down,’-it-has-a-mold-problem

Prince Andrew moved into Royal Lodge soon after the Queen Mum died in 2002. Charles got his grandmother’s London home, Clarence House, and Andrew got her Windsor home, Royal Lodge. When Andrew moved in, his mother paid for a big renovation to the property, and over the years, it’s been said that Andrew has also done refurbishments and such. But not according to the Sun! Their sources claim that in the 20 years Andrew has been tenant and caretaker to Royal Lodge, the place has been gradually falling apart. And now King Charles is cutting off Andrew’s allowance to make repairs, and obviously Charles will not authorize the Crown Estates to do the necessary work… while Andrew lives there.

Prince Andrew cannot live in his Royal Lodge property for much longer as it has a serious damp problem and needs a new roof. The Duke of York’s home needs millions spending on it in repairs but he is set to lose his annual funding from the King and rejected an offer to move to Frogmore Cottage.

Andrew, 63, expects to be kicked out of Royal Lodge — also in Windsor and where he has had a 75-year lease since 2003 — by the summer. But The Sun understands the 31-bedroom mansion, estimated to be worth around £30million, has damp problems. Its roof is also in need of repair — and Andrew may be unable or unwilling to fund the cost.

Very little work has been carried out on the property since Andrew spent £7.5million on repairs when he moved in after the 2002 death of the Queen Mother.

An insider said: “Royal Lodge is in a terrible state and it is falling down. Millions were spent when Andrew moved in but that was 20 years ago. Barely any work has gone on for two decades and people are shocked when they visit. There is a serious issue with damp that needs to be rectified and that isn’t cheap on a house of that size. It also needs a new roof. Not only does Andrew not have the finances to bring the home up to scratch, it would be uninhabitable when the work is being carried out.”

[From The Sun]

I mean, I don’t doubt that many of these royal properties are in need of extensive and expensive repairs. The sheer fact that it cost $3.1 million to renovate Frogmore Cottage from dilapidated shack to family home is evidence enough. I doubt Royal Lodge is falling apart, but I bet there’s a long to-do list involved with a house that size. Just as I don’t doubt that this will be one of the big “reasons” why Andrew must be evicted. The thing is, as soon as Andrew is evicted, Prince William is going to move in and suddenly all of the necessary renovations and updates will be paid for, lickety split. Charles can’t argue that “it looks bad to have all of these royal properties like Frogmore sitting empty” and then just leave a huge mansion like Royal Lodge sitting there. That’s the excuse they’ll use when William gets his fifth home: well, Royal Lodge needed the renovations anyway (paid for by the Royal Estates).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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Prince Andrew Prince Harry royals

Prince Andrew & the Sussexes’ evictions are about ‘money, not malice’

prince-andrew-&-the-sussexes’-evictions-are-about-‘money,-not-malice’

Keep in mind, the conversation about evicting Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge has been happening for months, years really. Basically, as soon as he withdrew from public life back in 2019-20, there were calls for Andrew to be evicted from the palatial Royal Lodge. Those conversations never went anywhere because QEII shielded him to the very end. When QEII passed away, I thought that King Charles would evict Andrew right away and put him on an ice floe, never to be heard of again. Instead, Charles took steps to protect and embiggen Andrew as well. Then, in the past month, there was suddenly a flurry of conversation about how Charles would force Andrew out of Royal Lodge just by cutting off his allowance. Andrew huffed and puffed about how Charles would basically have to pay him to leave because of all of the updates he’s done to Royal Lodge, and Andrew even suggested that he would sue Charles if he was evicted without reimbursement. All of that happened way before we knew that Charles had personally offered Frogmore Cottage to Andrew. Apparently, the Sussexes weren’t told that either.

Prince Andrew is said to be resisting the ‘down-grade’ from his state-subsidised 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor despite telling friends he fears he will be unable to afford its upkeep if the King cuts the purse strings. The Duke of York is set to lose £250,000-a-year in funding from the King as part of a shake-up of private royal finances with the monarch offering him the keys to Frogmore Cottage after evicting Harry and Meghan.

Andrew currently pays a reported £250-a-week for a state-subsidised 30-room mansion complete with 98 acres of land and a swimming pool – and is not keen to leave it when his £250,000-a-year grant may be axed from as early as April. It is understood Prince Andrew has been offered the keys to their five-bedroom home, a stone’s throw from Windsor Castle. But he is said to be resisting the ‘downgrade’ from 30-room, seven-bedroom Royal Lodge.

The Sussexes are believed to have not been offered an alternative property on any royal estate. A spokesman for the couple in the US last night confirmed that they had been asked to move out. They said in a statement: ‘We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage.’

Sources claimed they had no idea that Frogmore was offered to Andrew until it appeared in the papers.

Buckingham Palace refused to comment last night. A source said any discussions would be a ‘private family matter’ – and one insider said the move was about ‘money, not malice’.

[From The Daily Mail]

About “money, not malice” – Harry reimbursed the royal estate whatever for the cost of renovations. He was paid up on the lease for Frogmore. How is this about money and not malice when it comes to the Sussexes? Now, I agree, that it’s mostly a financial issue with Andrew. Charles is beginning the process of cutting off Andrew or putting severe limitations on his allowance. But the thing is, Andrew is sort of right – Charles will have to pay him to get him out of his cushy lease. I would hope that the same is true for the Sussexes and Frogmore, that they will get the money back that they paid into the property. Which means this whole catastrophe will end up costing the Royal Estates millions of pounds just to break two leases (out of malice).

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

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Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew ‘will not leave’ Royal Lodge without being ‘reimbursed’

prince-andrew-‘will-not-leave’-royal-lodge-without-being-‘reimbursed’

Last weekend, there was a stupid back-and-forth between Buckingham Palace and Prince Andrew over his lease on Royal Lodge, a giant mansion on the Royal Windsor estate. Andrew was given a sweetheart deal on Royal Lodge by his mother, and he signed a 75-year lease on the property for only a fraction of what it would truly cost to rent the mansion. There were reports that King Charles was trying to drive out Andrew by taking away his allowance or something, like Charles had a specific goal of evicting Andrew out of Royal Lodge somehow. “Sources” were going back and forth about it for days. Well, apparently Andrew isn’t worried and he’s not planning on leaving.

Prince Andrew “will not leave” his grace and favour home on the Windsor estate amid claims the King wants to evict him, sources have revealed. The disgraced Duke of York has told friends there is “no chance” he is moving from the sprawling 30 bedroom Royal Lodge after spending millions of his own money on renovations.

The royal’s handsome annual allowance of £250,000 is set to be slashed from April after the King warned his family to “tighten their belts” amidst incoming budget cuts, leaving Andrew reportedly fearing he would be unable to pay his bills. In 2003, Andrew signed a 75-year lease for the property, paying £250 a week for the home, which he shares with his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York. But in recent years he is understood to have spent more £7.5 million renovating the premises.

However, sources have revealed the Duke has assured his own family he is financially secure and believes the King would not evict him. Andrew, 63, stopped receiving public money when he was forced to step down from royal duties in 2019 over sex abuse alleged by Virginia Giuffre, one of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, which he denies. But he is understood to have netted a substantial windfall from the Queen’s will following her passing last September.

One source said: “He (said) he’s not leaving, there is no chance that will happen and even if the King wanted him how would that work? The King won’t evict him so there is no chance it will come to that. If he (the King) wants to spend millions reimbursing him for the money he’s already spent on the property, that’s another matter.”

A source said: “Could you imagine a situation where the Duke threatens to sue his brother, the King, over money. It would be unthinkable.”

Out of work Andrew, who was forced to stand down from royal duties and dumped from charities after a sex abuse scandal rocked the monarchy, could even demand from the monarch to be reimbursed if he is made to leave. A palace source insisted the King “won’t leave his brother homeless and penniless”, amid fears of a royal row on the horizon.

[From The Daily Mirror]

£250 a week for a mansion, stables and 80 acres? That’s £13,000 a year. Yes, his mummy really was looking out for him, giving him that deal on Royal Lodge and apparently leaving him a huge fortune in her will. This is also Andrew telling Charles that Charles can buy him out. The Royal Lodge lease has some kind of codicil where the monarch has to reimburse Andrew for the money he “spent” fixing up Royal Lodge. Meaning, Andrew claims to have spent £7 million on Royal Lodge, so Charles would have to pay him that (and more) to get him out of the lease. Which Charles is probably unwilling to do right now.

PS… I’ve always wondered if the Sussexes have a similar amendment on their lease of Frogmore Cottage – after all, they “paid back” the entire cost of renovations, will they get that back when they give up the lease on Frogmore? They should.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.