Prince Andrew
(Picture: PA)Prince Andrew may be forced to sell his £17million ski chalet to fund his legal defence in a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, according to reports.
The Queen will not be paying for the Duke of York’s spiralling legal costs forcing him to find other sources of income, sources told The Mirror.
A source told The Mirror: “It is crunch time for Andrew on several fronts.
“He is meeting all the costs himself so he needs to raise cash fast to pay bills which are increasing by the day.
“If there was the potential to settle, well, that is an option, but it is in no doubt that the Queen would not assist him in doing so.”
Andrew, 61, owns Chalet Helora in the Swiss resort of Verbier with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The seven bedroom property is worth £16.6 million and features an indoor swimming pool and sauna.
According to The Times, Prince Andrew and his family initially rented the chalet during the holidays before eventually deciding to purchase it in 2014 - though he was meant to have paid French socialite Isabelle de Rouvre a final payment of £6.7 million by New Year’s this year.
Sources suggest he wants to push the sale through “urgently” amid speculation that the prince, who has strongly denied any wrongdoing, could decide to seek a “no liability” settlement with Ms Giuffre to avoid the damaging publicity that a trial would bring.
Judge Lewis A Kaplan, who promised to deliver his verdict “pretty soon” after a hearing earlier this week, is expected by many observers to reject the prince’s call for the case to be dismissed.
That would pave the way for a high-profile trial and disclosure of full details of the allegations against the prince, who Ms Giuffre accuses of sexually assaulting her in New York, London and the US Virgin Islands when she was 17.
