Prince Andrew's legal team includes barrister who acted for Britain's most violent prisoner

Prince Andrew's legal team, to whom he is paying hefty legal fees to fight the sex abuse case against him, includes a solicitor nicknamed "Good News Gary" and a barrister who acted for Britain's most violent prisoner.

The legal team recently suffered a huge setback as the judge refused to accept their arguments to dismiss the lawsuit against the Duke of York on the grounds of a private settlement between his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who according to her had trafficked her to the royal. His lawyers are now reportedly considering an out-of-court settlement of their own to save Andrew from going to trials.

As per a report in The Sunday Times, Andrew's expensive team of advisers cost him an estimated £2 million. One of the advisers is Gary Bloxsome, a criminal defence solicitor at the Blackfords law firm, who became "co-head of the dispute resolution team."

Bloxsome, who was brought on board by Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson when the FBI was investigating him for his association with Jeffrey Epstein, has since gained his trust and became his "inner circle of one." He even gained the nickname "Good News Gary" as he insisted on briefing Andrew on the "best case scenario" regardless of the situation.

The Duchess of York is also very much involved in briefing about the case. A source said that the situation is in shambles as Andrew is getting "terrible advice" and getting no help from the rest of his family who have given up on him.

Andrew's legal team has undergone several changes since his name cropped up in the scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. His private secretary Amanda Thirsk was sacked after she convinced him to do the car-crash Newsnight interview where he vehemently denied having ever met Giuffre, who has accused him of having sex with her three times while she was still a minor.

The Duke was initially dismissive of appearing for the interview on the suggestions of his public relations adviser Jason Stein, former special adviser to Amber Rudd, but was convinced by Thirsk otherwise. While Stein quit after his suggestion was overruled, Thirsk received a payment of tens of thousands of pounds in a legal settlement after she was sacked.

After the controversial interview, Andrew's longstanding family friend and barrister Stephen Ferguson decided a more structured approach would be best. Ferguson, who has represented crime boss Terry Adams and Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson in the past, created a 'working group' of legal and PR professionals to surround the duke.

The team hired Clare Montgomery QC, an extradition lawyer once used by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and Mark Gallagher, a PR veteran. However, Gallagher's involvement with the team ended with his failed attempt to discredit Giuffre.