Prince Andrew will make a “substantial” donation to a charity supporting victims of sex trafficking, as part of his financial settlement over sexual abuse allegations.
The undisclosed donation will go to Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (SOAR), the US-registered charity founded by abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre, according to legal papers filed yesterday.
The out-of-court agreement was reached after Giuffre brought a civil case against the Duke of York, accusing him of sexually assaulting her three times when she was 17 years old. He has always denied the allegations.
The donation will be included in a total settlement worth £12m, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph.
‘Substantial donation’
In a statement sent to court yesterday, Prince Andrew’s lawyers said that he “intends to make a substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
The statement also said that Prince Andrew had “regret” for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and that he would now “fight against the evils of sex trafficking” including “supporting its victims”.
SOAR was established in 2015 as Victims Refuse Silence before changing its name in November last year.
On its website, the charity says that it “ensures that the voices of survivors are featured in the fight to end sex trafficking” through the media and public education campaigns. It also lobbies the US government on policies which prevent trafficking survivors from coming forward, including how allegations are handled in court.
The website says that the charity is not currently taking donations.
Patronage lost
At one stage Prince Andrew was a patron of around 200 charities and other bodies, but he was stripped of his remaining patronages last month after Buckingham Palace said he would not carry out “any public duties”.
In June 2020, the Charity Commission found that the Duke’s own charity, the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust (PACT), had breached charity law over payments to a trustee worth more than £3,500. PACT has now closed with a new charity, Idea Foundation, set up to continue some of its work.
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