Prince Andrew is a FOOL for settling sexual assault lawsuit with Virginia Roberts, source claims

Prince Andrew was a ‘fool’ for settling with Virginia Roberts over her sex assault lawsuit, sources close to vindicated attorney Alan Dershowitz now claim.

And a lawyer familiar with the case tells DailyMail.com that now all of Roberts’s allegations ‘should be questioned’ – including her claims against the prince – in the light of her stunning admission 

Roberts sensationally admitted on Tuesday that she ‘may have made a mistake’ in claiming she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz when she was underage. 

Roberts said Dershowitz was among the high profile men she was ‘loaned out’ to at Jeffrey Epstein’s command. The veteran lawyer has repeatedly and vehemently denied her allegation.  

‘How can someone be ”mistaken” about something so serious?’ one person close to Dershowitz told DailyMail.com. 

The source said they believe the King Charles’s younger brother must now be wondering why he settled earlier this year – paying Roberts a reported $12million – after she conceded she may have mistaken Dershowitz for someone else.

Sources close to attorney Alan Dershowitz tell DailyMail.com that Prince Andrew is a 'fool' for settling his sexual assaults lawsuit with Virginia Roberts

Sources close to attorney Alan Dershowitz tell DailyMail.com that Prince Andrew is a ‘fool’ for settling his sexual assaults lawsuit with Virginia Roberts. Prince Andrew settled with Roberts, paying her a reported $12million, after she claimed Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the royal 

The Duke of York was photographed with his arm around the bare waist of then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts. In the background, Ghislaine Maxwell. Roberts claims she was forced to have sex with the royal three times

Roberts’s ‘credibility was a central issue’ and Andrew should have gone to trial, the source said.

But sources close to Roberts have fired back, insisting she can’t be mistaken about Prince Andrew’s identity because he is so famous.

They assert that even as a 17-year-old American girl, Roberts must have known he was a British royal, far more recognizable than the Harvard lawyer.

Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial

Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial 

And, unlike with Dershowitz, there were photos and corroborating witnesses supporting her allegations against Andrew, the Duke of York. Roberts claimed she was forced to have sex with him three times under orders from the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

On Tuesday, Roberts withdrew her defamation case against Dershowitz, which she filed in 2019.

Roberts, 38, a mother-of-three who now lives in Australia and goes by her married name Giuffre, admitted that she ‘may have made a mistake’ by accusing the 84-year-old Harvard law professor who worked as an attorney for Epstein.

She had in the past alleged she was forced to have sex with Dershowitz at the late financier’s New York mansion and again on an airplane.

But after dismissing her case she said in a statement that she was ‘very young at the time.’

Roberts said: ‘It was a very stressful and traumatic environment, and Mr. Dershowitz has from the beginning consistently denied these allegations.

‘I now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz.’

A source close to Dershowitz said that Epstein could have falsely identified the man to Roberts and that it was actually someone else, but it was ‘inconceivable’ he actually took part in the abuse.

The source said: ‘The credibility issue is central here. Andrew is a fool for settling his case. He’s got to be wondering why he did it.’

Virginia dropped a defamation case Tuesday she had brought against Alan Dershowitz in 2019 with no financial payment made to either side

Virginia dropped a defamation case Tuesday she had brought against Alan Dershowitz in 2019 with no financial payment made to either side 

However even the source in Dershowitz’s camp admitted it was ‘hard to mistake who Prince Andrew is’ given his fame.

A source close to Roberts agreed and said her mistake with Dershowitz was ‘in the identification of her abuser.’

The source said: ‘Even Dershowitz has said she could have confused her with somebody else and that’s what she’s saying.

‘You can’t be mistaken about the identity of Prince Andrew. You have the photo of them together, you have testimony from a witness about him playing with a puppet at Epstein’s home in New York.

‘A 17-year-old girl may not know who Alan Dershowitz is but she knows who Prince Andrew is.’

The case was due to go to trial next year and would have been the first time Roberts would have faced questioning in court about any of her claims.

Her allegations were used in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell for recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein last year, which resulted in a conviction and 20 year sentence.

Roberts, 38, a mother-of-three who lives in Australia, admitted that she 'may have made a mistake' by accusing Dershowitz. However even the source in Dershowitz's camp admitted it was 'hard to mistake who Prince Andrew is' given his fame

Roberts, 38, a mother-of-three who lives in Australia, admitted that she ‘may have made a mistake’ by accusing Dershowitz. However even the source in Dershowitz’s camp admitted it was ‘hard to mistake who Prince Andrew is’ given his fame

Roberts's claims against Andrew forced him to retreat from public life. He gave a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein

Roberts’s claims against Andrew forced him to retreat from public life. He gave a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein

In a statement as the case was dismissed, Dershowitz said he was ‘gratified’ it had ended.

He said: ‘As I have said from the beginning, I never had sex with Ms. Giuffre. I have nevertheless come to believe that at the time she accused me she believed what she said.

‘Ms. Giuffre is to be commended for her courage in now stating publicly that she may have been mistaken about me. She has suffered much at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and I commend her work combatting the evil of sex trafficking.’

Roberts’s claims against Andrew forced him to retreat from public life due to public outcry and a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein, who hanged himself in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking crimes.

Andrew was stripped of his military titles and his patronages of dozens of charities and reportedly cried when told by King Charles that there was no way back for him.

A spokeswoman for Andrew declined to comment.

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