Duke of York served with sex assault lawsuit

Confidential agreement between his accuser and Epstein may yet invalidate her claim for damages

The Duke of York has been served with a civil lawsuit at the Royal Lodge in Windsor by lawyers acting for Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Ms Giuffre, 38, accuses the Duke of raping her as a teenager, which he denies. The affidavit states he has until Sept 17 to respond

THE Duke of York has been officially served with the civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault, according to a document lodged at a New York court yesterday.

He was served on Aug 27 at his home in Windsor and has until next Friday to respond, the affidavit says.

According to lawyers for Virginia Roberts Giuffre, his accuser, “Service was accepted by Metropolitan Police Office/head of Security at Royal Lodge”.

The suit was formally served by Cesar Sepulveda, a “corporate investigator”, who works for a London-based process server.

Mr Sepulveda arrived at Royal Lodge at 9.30am on Aug 26, left a business card and was asked to wait before speaking to two Metropolitan Police officers, the document reveals.

They were unable to raise the Duke’s private secretary but said they had been told not to accept any court papers and gave Mr Sepulveda a number for his lawyer, Gary Bloxsome, for whom he left a message. Staff had “already been primed not to allow anyone access on to the property to serve court process and instructed anyone not to accept the service”, according to the document.

Mr Sepulveda returned to Royal Lodge at 9.15am the next day and spoke to the head of security, who told him to leave the paperwork at the main gates and that it would be forwarded to the Duke’s legal team.

The complaint and summons, enclosed in a plastic sleeve and A4 envelope, addressed to the Duke, was therefore deemed officially served.

Despite the detailed claims made in the court document, Mr Bloxsome has rejected the method of service, which he described as procedurally improper and “regrettable”.

He accused Ms Giuffre’s legal team of failing to follow correct procedures, claiming the lawsuit should be served via a British court official, who would act as an intermediary.

If the judge overseeing the case makes such a request, he said it was “likely” the Duke, 61, would “agree to a convenient method of alternative service”, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

Mr Bloxsome also revealed in the letter, dated Sept 8, that he hoped to strike out the sexual assault claim, believing that a confidential settlement Ms Giuffre reached with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2009 could make her claim for damages invalid.

He is trying to access the sealed document, suggesting that without it the case cannot proceed.

The letter, sent this week to Judge Barbara Fontaine, senior master of the Queen’s Bench division, is the first public acknowledgement of the lawsuit by the Duke’s legal team and the first indication of how it plans to respond.

Mr Bloxsome said the 2009 agreement may have led to the dismissal, by consent, last month of Ms Giuffre’s high-profile civil claim against Alan Dershowitz.

Ms Giuffre had accused Mr Dershowitz, a lawyer who previously represented Epstein, of sexual assault in 2019.

She is said to have dropped the claim because the settlement she reached with Epstein released him and others from certain liability.

Mr Dershowitz is now trying to get the 2009 agreement unsealed and has asked for a copy to be sent to the Duke’s lawyers, to help them get the case against him dropped. The judge in his case has not yet ruled on that request.

The comes before the first court hearing, via telephone, in New York on Monday, when David Boies, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, will detail the various attempts to personally serve the Duke at his Windsor home, by post and by email to several law firms believed to be associated with him.

Ms Giuffre, 38, has accused the Duke of “rape in the first degree”, sexual battery and sexual abuse, when she was 17.

She claims the abuse took place at Epstein’s New York home, on his private Caribbean island and at the London home of the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges that she denies.

The Duke denies the allegations and has said he has “no recollection of ever meeting her”.

‘Staff had already been primed not to allow anyone access on to the property to serve court process’