Prince Andrew: Commentator discusses ‘future’ for royal

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Prince Andrew has agreed to settle his civil dispute with Virginia Giuffre out of court. Ms Giuffre and Andrew were preparing for a full civil trial later this year as the Duke of York was accused of sexually assaulting her on three occasions. Andrew has always denied the claims, but agreed earlier this week to an out of court settlement with his accuser. The Mirror reported this week that the Queen agreed to help Andrew as long as she was not connected to any personal payment to Ms Giuffre.

The controversy surrounding the Duke has led to unwelcome headlines for the Royal Family, with some experts highlighting the damage the allegations have done to The Firm.

However, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams tells Express.co.uk that Andrew is receiving support from his close family, including his daughters.

He said: “Of course he has support from his family, the Yorks are a close knit family.

“Eugenie and Beatrice are supportive of their father, they have their lives, they don’t do royal duties, so they aren’t likely to be affected.

“The Yorks are a very supportive family, they appear to be team York, so to speak.”

The sisters haven’t publicly commented on the allegations against their father, but the Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey reports this week that “both remain very much on the side of their darling ‘Papa’.”

One family friend also told the newspaper: “It’s been very difficult for them. I don’t think anyone has ever properly appreciated how hard it is for any child to have that level of scrutiny and exposure.

“But they have their own children now, so the family unit is more dispersed than it was.”

Royal expert Jennie Bond said in January that Eugenie and Beatrice will be looking to each other for support.

She told OK!: “They are very close as sisters, they’re very supportive of one another and I think all the turmoil they’ve had in their young lives has brought them closer together.

“In the Royal Family, there is such a limited circle of friends and family who can understand your situation, but then I always thought that William and Harry would understand any situation, but clearly that’s not true.

“But with Beatrice and Eugenie, I’ve not heard of any disruption of their relationship.”

Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has publicly expressed her support for the Duke of York.

In December, she was promoting her Mills & Boon novel ‘Her Heart for a Compass’ when she said of Andrew: “I completely stand by Andrew 100 percent.”

The happiest day of her life, she continued, was her wedding day back in 1986, “when I married the best man in the world”.

Mr Fitzwilliams also commented on how much the Andrew controversy has damaged the Royal Family.

He said: “The whole scandal has been very damaging, obviously it has.

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“That interview he gave on Newsnight in 2019 was so disastrous and ever since then there has been a steady drip of information about how his legal team were trying to persuade the judge that the case shouldn’t go on.

“Every time he has appeared in public it has led to bad headlines, so obviously the Royal Family were very relieved that this was settled.

“Had this gone to court, the publicity would have been so ghastly. It had to be settled now because he was facing a personal examination by Ms Giuffre’s legal team.

“Certainly, given the circumstances, this was really going to be a calamity if it hadn’t have been settled.”

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