Prince Andrew demands trial by jury as he responds to Virginia Robert’s sex assault lawsuit
PRINCE Andrew has demanded a trial by jury in response to Virginia Giuffre’s civil sex assault suit. Court documents from New York show the royal denies all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint.” Ms Giuffre, 38, has accused the Duke […]
PRINCE Andrew has demanded a trial by jury in response to Virginia Giuffre’s civil sex assault suit.
Court documents from New York show the royal denies all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint.”
Ms Giuffre, 38, has accused the Duke of forcing her to sleep with him more than 20 years ago at the home of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The mum-of-three alleged in court docs that she was procured by Maxwell, 57, the daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, as a teenage “sex slave” for Epstein.
In an 11 page document, lawyers for Andrew set out the duke’s response to Ms Giuffre’s allegations.
It says he denies the allegation that he sexually abused Ms Giuffre when she was under 18 years of age.
The document, submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also sets out a series of defences “without assuming the burden of proof, and expressly denying any and all wrongdoing”.
This includes arguments that the claim should be dismissed because Ms Giuffre is a permanent resident of Australia and that by entering into the 2009 agreement with Jeffrey Epstein she “waived the claims now asserted in the complaint”.
The document concludes: “Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the Complaint.”
Andrew was previously thought to be seeking an out-of-court settlement with Roberts after Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled he must stand trial in the US.
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The figure was estimated to be up to £10million ($13million) — the amount he will get from selling his chalet in Verbier, Switzerland.
In 2019, Ms Guiffre claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew in a toilet when she was 17, after a night where he had allegedly been plying her with vodka in a posh London club.
The royal has vehemently denied the accusations against him, branding them “false” and “without foundation”.
When questioned about the claims during his car crash Newsnight interview, Andrew said he was at Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey, when the assault is alleged to have happened.
He also cast doubt on Virginia’s recollection of the night.
But in September 2021, Ms Giuffre’s legal team confirmed they had issued Andrew with a writ ahead of his pre-trial in New York.
ndrew is named as the only defendant in the 15-page suit, brought under New York state’s Child Victims Act, though Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell are mentioned frequently throughout.
Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit stated: “In this country no person, whether president or prince, is above the law, and no person, no matter how powerless or vulnerable, can be deprived of the law’s protection.
“Twenty years ago Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her. It is long past the time for him to be held to account.”
