Settlement Comes Close To Vindicating Prince's Accuser

No scandal on the witness stand but Andrew is hardly ‘exonerated’ in the statement

- Sean O' Grady

What should we make of Prince Andrew’s settlement? A good many of his critics may judge that he’s got away with it. They will be disappointed that he won’t have to face his accuser in court, and that she won’t find the vindication she was reportedly seeking.

For most of us, the regret must be that the truth about what happened will never be known. It’s not at all clear that justice has been served. Given the nature of the case and the personalities involved, the public had a right to know what occurred.

It is probably a good deal for Andrew, mainly because he avoids the ultimate horror of dragging himself, his family and the institution he still represents into a New York courtroom. After all, the Duke of York, as we must still call him, can’t exactly “step back”, “step down” or “step aside” from being the third child of the Queen. That status, to the regret of some, is something that cannot be dissolved through an Order in Council or a Buckingham Palace press release.

The last member of the royal family to have to attend a court was Princess Anne, done for failing to control her bull terrier Dotty, and fined £500 at Slough Magistrates Court back in 2002. It’s fair to say Andrew’s humiliation risked being of an entirely different order. Not what anyone would like as we enter the festivities of Platinum Jubilee year.