Prince Andrew will appear in court in a sexual assault case. Earlier, he tried to stop its consideration
A federal judge in New York has rejected a motion by Prince Andrew's lawyers to dismiss a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was persuaded to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was still a minor. It follows from this that the son of Elizabeth II will still have to stand trial. The prince has until July 14 to answer questions about the case under oath. If the case is not settled, Prince Andrew could face trial between September and December 2022.
Judge Lewis Kaplan found that "Ms. Giuffre's complaint is not vague or ambiguous," so there is no reason to refuse to consider the case.
The prince's lawyers, in turn, insisted that on the basis of the deal concluded by Giuffre in 2009 with Jeffrey Epstein, this claim could not be considered in court.
The trial is connected with the case of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking and pedophilia: he recruited underage girls for their subsequent involvement in prostitution. Epstein's clients were allegedly rich and influential people. Giuffre calls himself one of Epstein's victims.
In the lawsuit, the woman claimed that Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with his friends, including the prince, and that Andrew knew that at that time she was still underage (she was 17 years old). Giuffre claimed that the son of Queen Elizabeth II entered into an intimate relationship with her against her will several times: on Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan and at the house of his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in London. Maxwell was recently found guilty of sex trafficking of minors.
Prince Andrew denies all the accusations against him, although the protracted court case has already damaged his reputation. In order for him not to cast a shadow on the royal family, he was previously even suspended from official duties. Buckingham Palace also refuses to comment on the case.
The first news was shared by the blogger Capt25.