Andrew’s ‘arrogance’ prevented an earlier settlement

US lawyers representing Jeffrey Epstein’s victims hailed Tuesday’s settlement between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre as a “victory”, but one lawyer claimed the duke’s “arrogance” prevented an earlier settlement.

‘It’s another banner day for survivors,’ Robert Lewis, a New York lawyer for Sarah Ransome, who was abused aged 22 and settled a lawsuit with Epstein and Ghislaine, told The Guardian. Maxwell in 2018.

Lewis also said he felt the victims had “been heard and were no longer silenced” following Maxwell’s December sentencing.

However, Lewis said he was surprised the prince hadn’t settled the matter sooner. Asked if there had been “an element of arrogance” in the prince’s delay in settling down, Lewis replied: “There absolutely is.”

“It’s true for Epstein, it’s true for Maxwell, it’s true for the Catholic church, it’s true for the prince… they think the law, on some level, only applies to everyone else.

“The rules don’t surprise me. What surprises me is that he and his advisers and lawyers did not see this sooner and accepted it much sooner.