Twist in duke’s sex case

LONDON: A judge has ordered that the Duke of York’s legal team is allowed to review a previously secret deal that could cause the sex abuse claim against him to collapse.

In the latest stage in the duke’s US legal battle, a federal judge agreed on Wednesday that a 2009 settlement between the financier Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre should be revealed to Prince Andrew’s lawyers.

The move came after officials acting for Epstein’s estate agreed to disclose the confidential agreement to the duke’s legal team.

Lawyers for Andrew have claimed that the 2009 deal between Epstein and Ms Giuffre – which ended a series of civil claims filed against the financier by women who alleged that he had abused them – would “release the duke (pictured) from any and all liability”.

Ms Giuffre is suing the duke over allegations that he had sex with her in 2001 while being aware that she had been illegally trafficked and therefore was not able to give consent. He has denied the claims.

A New York court on Wednesday ruled that the duke’s legal team was entitled to receive a copy of the settlement deal.