Jonathan Stempel, Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Andrew settled a suit by Virginia Giuffre alleging that the Duke of York had sexually abused her as a teenager. She was also accused of being abused and manipulated by Jeffrey Epstein, the financier.

Giuffre, Queen Elizabeth’s second-born son, had filed a joint Manhattan federal court filing. The settlement included an undisclosed amount.

Andrew is spared from potentially embarrassing disclosures and allegations in the months before and during the trial that was scheduled to start late this year.

Andrew and lawyers for Giuffre said that the prince will make a significant donation to Giuffre’s charity to support victims’ rights.

According to the filing, “The prince never intended to denigrate Ms. Giuffre’s character” and acknowledged that she had suffered as both an existing victim of abuse as well as unfair public attacks.

The filing stated that Prince Andrew regretted his association with Epstein and commended Ms. Giuffre’s bravery in fighting for others. He pledges to express his sorrow for Epstein’s association by supporting the fight against sex trafficking and its victims.

Andrew (61), has refuted Giuffre’s claims that he made her have sex at his London residence of ex-Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxiwell more than 20 years ago. He also abused Giuffre at two Epstein properties.

Giuffre (38) has been a prominent accuser of Epstein and Maxwell.

According to a spokesperson for the prince, she was not available for comment outside of the court filing.

Epstein committed suicide at the age of 66 while in Manhattan’s jail cell, while awaiting his trial for sex-trafficking charges.