Prince Andrew served with lawsuit from Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre
A US court document showed paperwork was filed at Royal Lodge and a response is due by 17 September
Prince Andrew has been served with an affidavit for a lawsuit from Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Adam Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Fri 10 Sep 2021 20.01 BST
Prince Andrew has been served with an affidavit for a lawsuit from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleges she was forced to have sex with the royal when she was 17 years old.
A document filed in a US court on Friday showed that paperwork for Giuffre’s lawsuit was filed at Andrew’s home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor on 27 August. The affidavit was accepted by a Metropolitan police officer at the gates of the property at 9.30am, after the agent filing the document had been turned away the previous day, according to the documents.
Court documents show that a response is now due from Andrew by 17 September.
Buckingham Palace referred the Guardian on to an external PR agency who represent the Duke of York who were contacted for comment.
Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in August. She accused Andrew of sexually abusing her at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell in London and on three occasions in the US in 2001.
Andrew has “absolutely and categorically” denied having sex with Roberts and Buckingham Palace has called the claims “false and without foundation”.
The legal claim alleges that Giuffre “was compelled by express or implied threats by Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell, and/or Prince Andrew to engage in sexual acts with Prince Andrew, and feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew due to their powerful connections, wealth and authority”.
The lawsuit further claims that Andrew knew she was a sex-trafficking victim, and that she has suffered – and continues to suffer – “significant emotional and psychological distress and harm”.
Maxwell, who is facing trial in New York in November, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges regarding her alleged involvement with Epstein.
In August it was reported that Andrew is considered a “person of interest” in the investigation into Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, and Maxwell.
The phrase “person of interest” is used by law enforcement to refer to someone who has not been arrested or formally accused of any crime, but can refer to someone who may have information that would assist the investigation.
US court to hold pretrial conference in Prince Andrew sexual assault suit
Lawyers claiming to represent Duke of York question whether papers were properly served
Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations in the lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Associated Press
Sat 11 Sep 2021 19.10 BST
A US court will hold a pretrial conference on Monday in the civil suit filed by a woman who claims Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her, as the two sides argue over whether the prince was properly served with documents in the case.
Lawyers for Virginia Roberts Giuffre say the documents were handed over to a Metropolitan police officer on duty at the main gates of Andrew’s home in Windsor Great Park on 27 August.
But Blackfords, a law firm that claims to represent Andrew “in certain UK matters”, has questioned whether the papers were properly served and raised the possibility of challenging the court’s jurisdiction in the case, according to a 6 September letter referenced in court documents filed by Giuffre’s attorneys.
“We reiterate that our client reserves all his rights, including to contest the jurisdiction of the US courts (including on the basis of potentially defective service),” they wrote.
A US judge will ultimately determine whether the papers were properly delivered. Judge Lewis Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York will hold the first pretrial conference in the case via teleconference on Monday.
The prince has repeatedly denied the allegations in the lawsuit brought by Giuffre, 38, a longtime accuser of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
When the suit was filed last month, legal experts suggested it left Andrew with no good options as he seeks to repair his image and return to public life.
If the prince tries to ignore the lawsuit, he runs the risk that the court could find him in default and order him to pay damages. If he decides to fight, Andrew faces years of sordid headlines as the case winds its way through court.
Guiffre’s lawyer, David Boies, said in court documents that it was implausible that Andrew was unaware of the suit.
“Attorneys at Blackfords, who he has apparently instructed to evade and contest service, have confirmed that Prince Andrew himself already has notice of this lawsuit and is evaluating his chances of success,” Boies wrote.
“And even if Blackfords had not confirmed as much, any other conclusion would be implausible – reputable media outlets around the world reported on the filing of plaintiff’s complaint, and hundreds, if not thousands, of articles about this lawsuit have been published.”
The lawsuit is another unwanted story for the royals, reminding the public of Andrew’s links to Epstein two years after his death.