Prince Andrew: Will the public pay for his sexual abuse settlement?

It was announced on Wednesday that Prince Andrew will have to pay an undisclosed amount of money, however, it is suspected to be around £12 million. The biggest question that has risen is: where will the money come from?

Prince Andrew’s money

Prince Andrew has led an extravagant life so far. It seems as though this has led to complications now. Indeed Andrew has to pay around £12 million to Virginia Giuffre as he agreed to an out-of-court settlement. He receives a yearly stipend from the Queen of around £250,000 as well as his military pension of £20,000 a year.

Due to Prince Andrew’s lifestyle, his ‘income’ alone isn’t enough to pay so he has to rely on other sources. He plans on selling the French ski chalet that he bought in 2014 with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. However, as he bought the chalet with his ex-wife, half of the money acquired will go to her. The chalet is estimated at £17 million, but as Prince Andrew had a mortgage on the property, it is highly likely he won’t get the full £17 million. The Sun reports that:

He is not yet believed to have received any money for it.

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The Queen’s help

It is believed that the Queen will help her son pay the settlement. The Queen receives a taxpayer-funded sovereign grant, which is provided by the government every year. Last year, the Queen received £51.5 million.

The grant the Queen receives is to pay for her events and duties as monarch, meaning that money cannot be used to pay for Prince Andrew’s settlement. So how will the Queen help her son?

The Queen also receives a surplus from the Duchy of Lancashire estate, which is now worth £22.3 million. There is currently a debate on whether this money is ‘public or private’ according to Craig Prescott, a lecturer in law at Bangor University.

The Mirror said that the Queen has already given her ‘shamed son’ £2m as a donation to Giuffre’s charity, agreeing to help him ‘as long as she was not connected to any personal payment to Giuffre’.

Will they use public money?

Whether or not public money is going to be used for the sex abuse settlement is still unclear. However, according to The Times, Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough, will demand clarity on the issue in parliament. He said on BBC's Newsnight:

I am going to take the opportunity to raise this issue in parliament because the issue isn’t going to go away until people have that information and receive assurances that public money is not going to be used to in any way contribute to the settlement.