Payout seals downfall of arrogant Prince

BY settling a lawsuit in which it was claimed he raped a 17-year-old trafficked girl, Prince andrew has not just completed his own humiliating downfall – he has brought about a truly shaming day for the entire Royal Family.

Only last month, the Duke of York defiantly told the world he was demanding a trial by jury to clear his name. Virginia Roberts’ accusations, he angrily insisted, were a pack of lies.

Yesterday, he ignominiously agreed to pay her a multi-million-pound sum and make a ‘substantial donation’ to her charity supporting sexual abuse victims.

he has not admitted liability. But in the court of public opinion, after refusing to test his defence under oath, a pay-off may be considered a confession of guilt.

andrew insists he never intended to malign Miss Roberts. how then does he explain his team spending years trashing this abused woman’s reputation, branding her a manipulative gold-digger?

this vile smear campaign was yet another example of the flawed judgment which saw this supremely arrogant and foolish prince befriend billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, now a convicted sex trafficker.

the reason andrew – who has gone from war hero to pariah – performed his volteface will be eagerly speculated.

But perhaps he finally found it in himself to prevent the good name of the monarchy being further soiled by this squalid affair.

the last thing the 95-year-old Queen needed during her Platinum Jubilee year was her son’s most salacious secrets being exposed in a bitter court battle.

Make no mistake, this scandal has already inflicted grave damage on the Royal Family. Yet with the FBI still potentially pursuing criminal charges, this unedifying affair could still drag on.

the best that can be said of andrew now is that, while eternally tainted, he has for once done the right thing.