The jury of public opinion will forever be out on Prince Andrew

Money, they say, can’t buy you happiness, but a goodly swodge of royal wonga can certainly buy you the peace of mind which comes from seeing sexual assault allegations disappear.

So it must be for Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, who has settled out of court with Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2001, when she was 17 and then a minor under American law.

Andrew agreed to donate a “substantial sum” to a charity established by Giuffre which supports sex trafficking victims and, as a consequence, will not have to go to trial and face a grilling by her lawyers.

He maintains his innocence but given the settlement, we’re entitled to say: We’ll never know the real truth.

Certainly, keeping company, as he did, with Jeffrey Epstein – who had sex parties with underage girls on his Caribbean island – is, at the very minimum, not a good look for Andrew.

No doubt that was one of the reasons he surrendered his royal privileges and will step back from public life.

The settlement will lighten the dark cloud hanging over the celebrations of the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

But the jury of public opinion will forever be out on Andrew.