Duke of York in profile – from Falklands hero to controversial royal

A profile on the Duke of York, after lawyers confirm his civil sex case brought by Virginia Giuffre will be settled outside of court.

Duke of York (Liam McBurney/PA)

The Duke of York’s civil sex case will be settled outside of court, meaning he is no longer facing a public trial and the monarchy will be saved some of the controversy surrounding it.

Andrew had been due to face a jury trial in the US following accusations of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre, until their lawyers reached an agreement “in principle” on Tuesday.

But how did the claim come about, and what has Andrew been known for in the past?

During his life, the “Playboy Prince” earned high regard for his bravery during the Falklands War and served as a trade envoy, but he is best known as the man whose reputation was left in tatters amid the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal.

As a young man, he was one of the world’s most eligible bachelors and earned himself the nickname “Randy Andy” after being linked to a string of beautiful women.

But later in life his connections with controversial foreign figures raised concerns and he was dubbed “Air Miles Andy” after being criticised for his globe-trotting, especially helicopter trips to pursue his passion for golf.

At 22, Andrew saw active service in the Royal Navy as a Sea King helicopter pilot in the Falklands War.

His service included flying his aircraft as a decoy target, trying to divert deadly Exocet missiles away from British ships.

He later married and divorced the bubbly, flame-haired Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson, who herself has generated some of the most humiliating royal scandals of modern times.

When a bachelor for a second time, Andrew again made headlines, having been spotted cavorting with topless women on holiday in Thailand, and attending a “hookers and pimps” party with Robert Maxwell’s daughter, Ghislaine Maxwell, in the US.

After serving for 22 years in the Royal Navy, the duke became the UK’s special representative for international trade and investment, but his 10 years in the role generated a great deal of controversy.

As a roving ambassador, one of his first tasks was a post-September 11 trip to New York, but he was criticised for attending a party during his stay.

Andrew has faced questions over his connections to politicians in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Libya and Turkmenistan.

His judgment was questioned after he held meetings with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif, and when he entertained the son-in-law of Tunisia’s ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at Buckingham Palace.

His relations with Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of the then-president of Kazakhstan, were also scrutinised after Mr Kulibayev purchased the duke’s Sunninghill Park home for £3 million more than its £12 million asking price in 2007.

Simon Wilson, Britain’s deputy head of mission in Bahrain from 2001 to 2005, wrote in the Daily Mail that the duke was “more commonly known among the British diplomatic community in the Gulf as HBH: His Buffoon Highness”.

In 2011, it emerged that Andrew was friends with American financier Epstein, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Photos surfaced of him with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, who claimed that Epstein employed her as a masseuse but exploited her while a teenage minor.

The duke was also pictured walking in New York’s Central Park with Epstein in December 2010, a year after Epstein’s release from prison, and this led him to quit his role as a trade envoy.

In 2013, Andrew was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, but Britain’s pre-eminent scientific institution faced unprecedented dissent from members over the move, with one professor describing the duke as an “unsavoury character”.

Tech-savvy Andrew, who was the first member of the royal family to have an official Twitter account under his own name, focused on his Pitch@Palace work, bringing together industry experts with young entrepreneurs and technology start-ups.

Then in 2015, while enjoying a New Year skiing holiday with his family, he was named in US court documents as having had sex a number of times with a teenage girl, a minor under US law.

The woman alleged she was “procured” for the duke by Epstein, whom she accused of using her as a “sex slave”.

She was identified in reports as Giuffre, the US teenager with whom Andrew had been pictured.

The duke vehemently denied the allegation.

In April 2015, a US federal judge ordered the claims to be struck from civil court records as the long-running lawsuit against Epstein continued.

But Andrew’s association with Epstein hit the headlines once again in 2019, amid ongoing investigations into the American, who killed himself in prison in August that year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

The duke’s appearance on the BBC’s Newsnight programme later in November was intended to draw a line under the matter.

But it was dubbed a “car crash”, with commentators questioning his responses and condemning his unsympathetic tone and lack of remorse over his friendship with the sex offender Epstein.

During the interview, Andrew denied that he slept with Ms Giuffre, saying one encounter in 2001 did not happen as he had spent the day with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express in Woking for a party.

The same alleged sexual liaison, which the American said began with the royal sweating heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp, was later branded factually wrong as the duke said he had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat.

And he twice stated that his relationship with sex offender Epstein had provided “seriously beneficial outcomes”, giving him the opportunity to meet people and prepare for his future role as a trade envoy.

In January, Andrew’s lawyers attempted to throw out the civil sex case brought by Ms Giuffre, but a judge rejected this and ruled the case could go to trial.

The Queen stripped Andrew of his honorary military roles in response, and he gave up his HRH style, before demanding a jury trial.

But on February 15, their lawyers reached an out-of-court settlement in what appears to be a conclusion to the case.

Court documents show the duke will make a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.