Duke faces day of reckoning
The Duke of York might be required to give evidence in a British court over his relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The US lawyer of five of Epstein’s alleged victims is preparing evidence before potential legal action to force Prince Andrew to give a statement.
She said the prince had been an ‘‘enabler’’ of Epstein’s crimes, and should now co-operate in full with the authorities in the US and ‘‘permit his staff to do the same’’.
If he won’t testify voluntarily, she is ready to get a court order requiring him to give evidence, she said.
‘‘I hope we don’t have to subpoena him. We certainly could . . . if we determine that he has relevant information to our cases. I would fly to the UK and take his deposition. This happens all the time . . . it’s only unusual because it’s Prince Andrew.’’
The lawyer, Lisa Bloom, who works in California and New York, said any request would call for the duke to give evidence as a witness against the financier and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. It is understood that Buckingham Palace is preparing for the prince to disclose evidence imminently.
The duke is also being told to move his private office out of the palace, The Times can reveal. The move, which has been authorised by the Queen, means that he will have to find other premises for his staff.
The palace view is that with
Andrew not carrying out any public duties, it would be better for the sake of ‘‘clarity’’ if his office were based elsewhere. Leaving it inside the palace could, it is claimed, be open to ‘‘misinterpretation’’. As a member of the royal family he will, however, be allowed to keep his private quarters there.
In a further blow yesterday, it emerged that the prince had holidayed at the Caribbean estate of Peter Nygard, a fashion designer accused of sexually assaulting three women.
It came as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and English National Ballet said they were cutting ties with the prince, their patron for 15 years. The orchestra said that its management had talks with the prince’s staff on
Friday. It said: ‘‘At a subsequent meeting of the RPO board it was decided that the orchestra should part company with its patron with immediate effect. The RPO would like to express its gratitude to His Royal Highness for his support of the orchestra over the past 15 years.’’
The English National Ballet said it had accepted his resignation with immediate effect: ‘‘We would like to thank him for all the support he has given us.’’
At the end of a week of turmoil there was a small crumb of comfort when the Queen went riding with the prince at Windsor, a clear gesture of support.
His 93-year-old mother was instrumental in telling the duke this week that he had to step down from his public duties because the controversy over his links with Epstein was damaging the reputation of the royal family.
However, she would also have been well aware that any photograph of them riding together would send the message that he is still her son.
The BBC is planning to air a new interview this week with Virginia Roberts Giuffre who claims she had sex with the prince three times as a teenager.
The lawyer said that if the prince had reported Epstein’s activities, the suffering of some of the victims could have been avoided.
‘‘Three of my clients were abused by Epstein after Prince Andrew began his friendship with him in 1999. If Prince Andrew saw something – and surely he did, because everybody who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein says there were girls coming in and out all the time – had he shown the basic human decency to report his friend, other women could have been spared being sexually abused.’’
The hearing would not be concerned with Giuffre as she is not a client of Bloom. Her clients do not allege that the prince sexually abused them.
But Bloom believes that his revelation to BBC ’s Newsnight that he had seen Maxwell as recently as June and also his close relationship with Epstein could make him an important witness in her clients’ allegations.
Legal experts said that if Bloom aims to interview Prince Andrew in the UK in relation to US civil proceedings, she will need to apply to the US court for a ‘‘letter of request’’ to be issued under the Hague Convention on the taking of evidence abroad.
The High Court would then issue a summons for him to be interviewed in London for the purposes of the US civil proceedings. These relate to the victims’ claims for damages against Epstein’s US$577 million ($NZ900m) estate.
‘‘I hope we don’t have to subpoena him. We certainly could . . . if we determine that he has relevant information.’’
Lisa Bloom, lawyer for five of Jeffrey Epstein plaintiffs