Prince Andrew asks for a jury to decide his fate in sex abuse trial
Prince Andrew has asked for a US jury trial as he again denied Virginia Giuffre’s accusations that he sexually abused her more than two decades ago when she was 17.
Giuffre, 38, sued the Duke of York last August, alleging he battered her while the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her.
In a filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, Andrew, 61, admitted to meeting Epstein in or around 1999, but denied Giuffreâs claim that he âcommitted sexual assault and batteryâ upon her.
David Boies, a lawyer for Giuffre, said in a statement on Wednesday that Andrew was trying to âblame the victim.â
âWe look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms. Giuffre for her own abuse,â Boies said.
Andrewâs ties to Epstein, who took his own life in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, have undermined his reputation with the public and standing in the royal family.
Earlier this month, the family removed Andrewâs military links and patronages, and said the second son of the Queen would no longer be known as His Royal Highness.
Andrewâs filing was an âanswer,â a common document in US litigation in which defendants deny or say they lack enough information to comment on plaintiffsâ substantive accusations.
The princeâs lawyers had previously called Giuffreâs lawsuit âbaselessâ and accused her of seeking another payday.
Giuffre received $US500,000 ($A698,000) in a 2009 civil settlement with Epstein.
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US District Judge Lewis Kaplan has said a trial could begin between September and December.
If Giuffre won at trial, Andrew could owe her damages. She has asked for an unspecified amount.
Andrew has not been criminally charged, and no criminal charges can be brought in Giuffreâs civil lawsuit.
Kaplan this month denied Andrewâs earlier request to dismiss Giuffreâs lawsuit, which the prince said he was shielded from under the 2009 Epstein settlement.
Andrew renewed that argument in Wednesdayâs filing, and also said Giuffre lacks legal standing to sue because she lives in Australia.
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