At the beginning of the noughties, Prince Andrew is said to have abused the underage Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The 61-year-old was a British trade representative at the time. His lawyers could now use this position.
Prince Andrew has around two weeks to respond to the civil lawsuit Virginia Roberts Giuffre has brought against him in New York. The American claims to have been molested several times by the Queen’s son as a minor. According to her lawsuit, she was “forced to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will” at various locations in 2001 by convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein, his friend Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew. She is now demanding compensation from the prince.
So far, the 61-year-old has been silent about the allegations. At the end of 2019, he claimed in a BBC interview that he did not know Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Andrew interpreted a photo that shows him together with the then 17-year-old as a fake. “That didn’t happen,” he said. Back then, however, it was all about his connection with Jeffrey Epstein. With the civil suit, Andrew has now become a defendant himself.
People close to the prince say the royal has no intention of changing his tactics of silence and waiting. “He’s happy and relaxed in Balmoral. His legal team has always expected and prepared for it. They advised the Duke to keep calm and move on. He’s taking their advice,” an acquaintance of the 61-year-old told the British newspaper The Sun “.
After the debacle with the BBC interview, in which Prince Andrew talked about head and neck instead of operating damage limitation as planned, his lawyers had recommended him to remain silent. Should there be a process, it could drag on for years.
Prince Andrew was British Trade Representative
Enough time for the lawyers to come up with a tactic. One possibility could be that they are targeting Andrews diplomatic immunity. In 2001, when the sexual assault is said to have occurred, the prince was officially the UK’s trade agent.
“Ms. Giuffre’s lawyers have to overcome enormous hurdles to bring their lawsuit even near a jury,” said US attorney Spencer Kuvin to the British “Mirror”. “If the Duke gets involved in the case at all, his legal team will undoubtedly file a motion to dismiss the case.” There are numerous reasons for this, Kuvin believes. One possibility is diplomatic immunity.
First, however, there is a comparatively simple hurdle to overcome so that a first hearing can take place on September 13th: Prince Andrew must be handed the application in person. American legal representatives traveled to Great Britain especially for this purpose. Now all they have to do is find the Queen’s son somewhere. Most recently he stayed at Balmoral, the monarch’s Scottish country residence.
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