Duke served with sexual assault papers
Prince Andrew’s lawyers in the US have now accepted that he has been formally notified about legal action relating to claims of sexual assault.
The Duke of York had been at the centre of a dispute over whether he had been served with papers relating to a civil action being brought by Virginia Giuffre.
She has alleged he sexually assaulted her and she is seeking damages.
The 61-year-old duke, who has been staying at Balmoral, has denied the accusation.
During the first pre-trial hearing of the case, his lawyers had contested whether the papers had been served on him, which is a key requirement in a claim for damages.
But court documents have now shown that the legal teams for both sides spoke last Tuesday.
Prince Andrew’s time to respond to the allegation has been extended, and he must give a response to the court by Wednesday.
Giuffre – who also claims she was a victim of the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – says she was assaulted by the Queen’s son at three locations, including when she was 17.
Her lawyer, David Boies, who filed the lawsuit and is leading the case, said in an interview that he did not view it as taking on the royal family.
He said: “I view this as taking on one particular person who engaged in conduct that I am sure the royal family privately disapproves of, as much as anybody else.
“Now when it’s a member of your family it’s always hard, I know. I sympathise very much with the Queen, in the same sense that I sympathise with any mother whose child ends up in the kind of trouble Prince Andrew’s had.”