Accused of sexual assault, UK Royal Family’s Prince Andrew could face civic trial in the US by the end of 2022.
US district judge Lewis Kaplan has claimed that he is predicting that the trial date to be between September and December of next year.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of infamous Jeffrey Epstein, has accused Prince Andrew of sexually harassing her at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and a few other places, in 2001 when she was 17 years old. Now, she has filed a legal complaint against the UK Royal and the legal papers seem to have reached the Prince by Cesar Sepulveda, who identifies himself as corporate investigator/process server.
Guiffre had alleged that she “was compelled by express or implied threats by Epstein, (Ghislaine) 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.”
However, Andrew’s lawyers have lashed out at the American woman and have accused her of seeking a “payday” at Andrew’s expense. “She has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expens,” the document reads.
The team of lawyers also dug out old articles about her case, published in New York Daily News in 2015. In this article it was revealed that she was described as a ‘money-hungry sex kitten’ who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle by her friends.
While the Prince has constantly denied these accusations by Guiffre, he may soon have to face the court on the matter. David Boies, Giuffre’s lawyer, has revealed that he is hoping to call eight to 12 witnesses for the trial, in addition to the parties involved. Andrew Brettler, representing the Prince, has also made a similar claim.