US lawyers ramp up threat against Prince Andrew
PRINCE Andrew faces the threat of a lawsuit from his American accuser this week, her lawyers have revealed.
Attorneys for Virginia Roberts Giuffre said they could sue him in a US court over claims she was ‘lent’ to Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein for sex. The prince has always vehemently denied claims he slept with the then Ms Roberts three times when she was a 17-year-old in 2001, saying he cannot remember ever meeting her. The threat of legal action came as the Duchess of York said she was ‘100%’ certain her ex-husband was being honest when he denied ever seeing anything untoward during his time with Epstein. She added: ‘No question. I know everything about him. I think he is an extraordinary person. I want him to come through this. I want him to win.’
But lawyer David Boies raised the prospect of a lawsuit being brought in the coming days ahead of a deadline to file any claim by the end of the week.
Mr Boies said he was ‘nearing the end of the road’ with Andrew and that, with the window for a civil suit in New York closing, his client has ‘never shirked from a fight’. Any claim would be ‘based on her being lent out to Andrew for sex by Epstein and her being under 18’, added the lawyer.
Mr Boies said the suit would include claims of ‘improper sexual violations, physical and emotional distress’ and would ask for damages to be determined at trial. The first of those occasions was allegedly at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s alleged madam, followed by claims of encounters in New York and on Epstein’s island in the US Virgin Islands.
While 17 is above the age of consent in the UK, anyone under 18 is a child under New York state law.
Mr Boies said that ‘time is running out’ as far as the Duke of York was concerned. ‘We will continue to look at the law, continue to talk to our client about the lawsuit but I think it’s fair to say that we’re nearing the end of the road,’ he added.
Any damages claim could be for several million pounds, legal insiders said.
Weeks ago Mr Boies sent a second formal letter to the duke’s lawyers – which he says was ignored – offering to sign a contract known as a tolling agreement. This would extend the statute of limitations so that both sides could negotiate.
The letter said Mrs Giuffre needed to submit a claim ‘now’ or she risks not being able to file a lawsuit. Mr Boies said the August 14 deadline was a window created by the New York Child Victims Act, which became law in 2019.
Previously victims had up to five years after they turned 18 to file a claim but the oneoff window gave all victims the opportunity to bring a legal case, regardless of how old their allegations were.
A spokesman for Andrew declined to comment.
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‘Nearing the end of the road’