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Prince Andrew payout reportedly $3.6m, not $14.5m

The rumor was that Prince Andrew had paid off Virginia Roberts Giuffre to the tune of £12 million ($14.5 million). Now, the Sun on Sunday reports that figure is dramatically lower—between £3 million ($3.6 million) and £5 million ($6 million). A source told the paper: “It was thought, and widely reported, that Virginia got a settlement of £12 million from Andrew, but that’s not right. It was far less than that, as low as £3 million. No doubt this will have influenced the conditions of the agreement that she was prepared to sign.”

That means the lower figure Giuffre agreed to also left the option open for her to write a tell-all book about her experiences. Giuffre claimed Andrew had raped her three times when she was 17 and being sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew denied the accusations emphatically, and their February agreement contained no admission of liability or apology by him, while acknowledging Giuffre was a “victim of abuse.”

“Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as the result of unfair public attacks,” the joint statement read. “It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years. Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others. He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”

A spokesperson for Andrew has been approached by The Daily Beast for comment on the Sun’s story.

Swiss socialite outraged by Fergie’s new $6 million home

If Prince Andrew really did only have to pay a fraction of the originally reported amount to his accuser, it might go some way to explaining how his wife, Sarah Ferguson, has found the cash to splash out on a new £5 million ($6 million) house in London.

Yes, you read that correctly, the Duchess of York, who was once so broke that she had to borrow $19,000 off Jeffrey Epstein to settle an outstanding debt, who has advertised juicers on QVC, and has now taken to putting her name to ghost-written romance novels for mass-market publisher Mills and Boone, somehow has $6 million to spend on a fabulous Mayfair home.

One person who is not impressed is Isabelle de Rouvre, the (relatively) unlucky Swiss heiress who sold the Yorks her super-chalet in Verbier for around $20 million. Attentive readers will recall that the Yorks agreed to pay some of the money upfront and some by installments.

But guess what? Prince Andrew-the-too-honorable and his wife failed to pay the installments in full as agreed, leaving around $8 million unpaid, and ultimately forcing the sale of the lodge.

De Rouvre told the Sunday Times that she was owed a total of £6.8 million ($8.2 million) but agreed to a payment of about “half the amount.”

She said: “I understood they didn’t have the money and believed he would be going to prison in America so I thought it best to get what I could,” she said. “I am outraged that I am now told she has spent millions on another property. It is just incredible and the whole story unbelievable. It is a dirty story as far as I am concerned.”

A spokesperson for Andrew told The Sun that he had not been involved in the purchase.

Harry’s phone call inspired Ukrainian medic

A Ukrainian paramedic who was tortured by Russian soldiers after being captured while trying to save the lives of victims of the Mariupol theatre bombing in March has said that a phone call from Prince Harry has helped “inspire” her to return to work.

Yulia Paievska, 53, a member of Team Ukraine for the Invictus Games, founded a volunteer ambulance corps named Tayra’s Angels. She is reported to have saved 500 Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas and was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine by the state.

She was released in June, after enduring months of threats, torture and deprivation. She said that Harry called her a week later.

“He simply inspired me to continue to fight,” Paievska told the Telegraph.

“He said that he supports Ukraine and all of us,” she said, and that “the Invictus Games family always takes care of its members.”

She said she was “afraid” to return to the war but added, “There are more important things than our fear and our emotions.”

The queen loses another old friend

One of the queen’s oldest friends, Lady Myra Butter, died aged 97 last month. Lady Myra was often encouraged by the palace to speak to documentary makers, and was the subject of an obituary in the Telegraph this week which recounted some of her reflections. She revealed that Prince Philip was initially seen as an unsuitable match for Elizabeth because he was “outspoken” and “brash,” but that their marriage had been a “fairy tale.”

A descendant of Tsar Nicholas I, she was a defender of Philip and pushed back against stories claiming Philip was a heartless father, recounting the episode of him dropping a teenage Charles off at Gordonstoun boarding school for the first time in 1962. “All I can remember is that when Prince Philip came back… he looked slightly shaken. He didn’t say anything, but he went straight over and poured himself a stiff drink. I do remember that. And I thought: ‘Oh, that has shaken you.’”

When Philip died she said: “He was a step behind walking, but he was never a step behind as a person.”

Will the truth ever out?

Have a vague memory of Prince Charles being involved in a series of insane financial scandals fairly recently? The British establishment appears to want to think of something else.

The Sunday Times, which has been the driving force in exposing a series of funding scandals at the Prince’s charities, which have included him being personally handed €3 million ($3 million) in shopping bags and a $1 million donation from the bin Laden family, reports today that British police have still not even questioned Michael Fawcett, the courtier who coordinated an honor for a Saudi businessman who donated more than £1.5 million ($1.8 million) to his pet charitable causes.

How have the palace managed to just ignore it all?

The Sunday Times has this fascinating answer, which is worth quoting in full:

“Clarence House can stay silent because of the stance other institutions have taken.

“First, parliament: according to Erskine May, the handbook of parliamentary procedure, MPs must not make any intervention that “brings the name of the sovereign or influence of the crown directly before parliament”. The Freedom of Information Act has an exemption to block requests about royals.

“Second, the Metropolitan Police: after The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday produced evidence suggesting that an honor had been sold or offered in return for money, the force conducted an “assessment”. It started an investigation—but has not interviewed a single person.

“The Met has not explained its position. The regulators have been just as opaque and it is hard to avoid concluding that the establishment continues to close ranks.”

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This week in royal history

Unanswered questions

So, just how much did Prince Andrew pay Virginia Roberts Giuffre? The mystery of Prince Harry’s memoir deepens, with speculation about what he will include and leave out (especially when it comes to his “wild years,” as The Daily Beast reported Friday) and just how dishy and damaging it will be the royals.

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