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Judge asked to end Prince Andrew sex abuse lawsuit

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NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Prince Andrew and an American woman who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was 17 have formally asked a judge to dismiss her lawsuit.

The lawyers sent a document to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Tuesday to dismiss the August lawsuit once he signs it.

The lawyers revealed three weeks ago that they had tentatively agreed to a settlement in which the prince would make a substantial donation to his accuser's charity and declare that he never meant to malign her character.

The judge had given both sides until March 17 to complete the deal, or he would set a trial date.

In August, Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew, claiming she was coerced in the sex acts with the prince by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The British royal, who has strenuously denied the allegations, reached the agreement with Giuffre after a judge ruled in January that the suit could move forward.

The Associated Press reported that Andrew stepped back from official duties in the wake of the lawsuit and was recently stripped of his honorary military titles.

The AP reported that Andrew could no longer use “his royal highness” as a title in official settings.

Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 after being arrested on sexual abuse charges.

Maxwell was convicted on charges of sex trafficking of a minor and other charges in December.