Prince Andrew can forget about overturning his £3million sex abuse deal with Virginia Giuffre, say incredulous US lawyers.
Reports that the Duke of York has consulted lawyers to get his rape accuser to retract her allegations have been met with disbelief.
One top lawyer said Andrew, 62, can “forget it” and another said he should “just feel grateful that he is not in jail”.
Lisa Bloom represents several of financier Jeffrey Epstein’s victims as well as a woman who claims she witnessed Andrew in London’s Tramp nightclub with Ms Giuffre in 2001.
Ms Bloom said: “Prince Andrew signed his name to a settlement. And now he wants out? Forget it. Not going to happen. Nor should it, because the pain he would inflict on Virginia.
“Leave her alone. Live up to your agreement. Man up.”
Leading US attorney Spencer Kuvin is another lawyer for victims of Epstein, who took his own life in jail in 2019 while facing child sex charges.
Mr Kuvin said: “It is unbelievable. His chances of overturning a negotiated and agreed settlement are just about as likely as Epstein coming back to life.” Andrew needs to just feel grateful that he is not in jail.”
The Duke was reportedly inspired to act after Ms Giuffre dropped a defamation lawsuit against another man, admitting she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him.
She claimed Epstein’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz sexually assaulted her and had sex with her while she was underage. Like Andrew, Mr Dershowitz vehemently denied her allegations.
The dropping of the lawsuit and the reasons behind it were immediately seized on by Andrew. Ms Giuffre sued Andrew for damages in 2021, claiming he raped and sexually abused her after being “loaned out” to him three times aged 17 by Epstein.
She claimed she was trafficked to London, where she was forced to sleep with Andrew as a “teen sex slave”.
The case was dismissed in March after Andrew paid an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre but accepted no liability.
However, the scandal damaged his reputation and he was later stripped of his military titles and asked not to use HRH.
Sources maintain he wanted to fight the case but was pushed to settle by the Royal Family, who feared the negative publicity would overshadow the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
To overturn the agreement, lawyers would need to prove a mistake, accident, fraud or duress had taken place.
News of Andrew’s plans comes as an interview with his pal Ghislaine Maxwell was due to air in the US. The sex trafficker, 61, slams the claims against her “dear friend” and said a 2001 picture of Andrew with Ms Giuffre in her London home is fake.
A spokesman for Andrew was unavailable for comment yesterday.