'Desperate' Prince Andrew's 'unbelievable' bid to rehabilitate his image

28 January 2023 , 21:00

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Prince Andrew settled the case out of court (Image: PA)

A top lawyer has rubbished claims Prince Andrew aims to overturn his £3million court settlement with Virginia Giuffre.

The shamed royal has reportedly consulted a legal team in the hope of forcing a retraction or apology from the Jeffrey Epstein sex slave which could lead to a return to royal duties.

But US attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represents nine victims of Andrew’s late paedophile pal, slams the idea as “unbelievable”, adding: “There’s a PR campaign at work.”

It comes after jailed sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, 61, once close to the Duke, last week repeated her claim that the photo showing Ms Giuffre at 17 with the royal’s arm around her was a fake. Mr Kuvin also hit out at the release of a snap taken by Maxwell’s family showing two masked people in a bathtub at her London home in which Ms Giuffre claims she had sex with Andrew.

Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre (PA)

Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine’s brother, told a newspaper: “They show conclusively the bath is too small for any sort of sex frolicking.”

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But Mr Kuvin said of the bath snap: “It’s absurd. They seem to be saying Virginia was in the house after all. It undermines their case. As for Ghislaine’s comments about the genuine photo of Andrew with Virginia at her home in London, it shows a lot of work is being done on his behalf – he’s desperate to rehabilitate his image. Ghislaine protects the men in her life. She’s hoping Andrew can help her.”

Attorney Spencer Kuvin said Andrew is doing 'a PR exercise'

Andrew ahead of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 (PA)

Mr Kuvin believes the Prince’s advisers are part of the PR plot. He said: “It’s a public relations exercise, not so much a legal one. I think he and his lawyers have realised they have an impossible hill to climb.

But he has nothing to lose by saying he wants to do it. He wins from declaring he’s innocent and should be let back into the royal family, but it’s never going to happen.”

Two associates of Ghislaine Maxwell pose in the bath

Andrew, 62, settled with Ms Giuffre, 39, out of court last February after she sued him, claiming she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17. He denies her allegations and the deal did not include admissions by him.

It is now claimed he never wanted to settle and believes he was “bounced” into it to stop bad publicity.

Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell in the background (PA)

Andrew is also said to have been encouraged by the collapse of Ms Giuffre’s sex abuse case against celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz, when she admitted last November she “may have made a mistake”. Florida-based Mr Kuvin added: “It is unbelievable he’d try to reverse the agreement. If he starts down that route it’ll reopen the entire case.”

Ian Maxwell told the Sunday Mirror last night: “Both Prince Andrew and Ghislaine have been focusing on the photo, the original of which has never been produced. Even if it were real, it only proves he met the girl, who was not even under age according to UK law.

Patrick Hill