A U.S. court recently permitted Virginia Giuffre’s attorneys to send legal notice to Andrew’s attorney, rather than the prince himself.
Prince Andrew has been served the sexual assault lawsuit filed against him by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
According to CNN, Andrew received the legal papers after his U.S.-based lawyer accepted copies of the complaint sent through FedEx and email.
Other court documents, seen by CNN, show that another copy of the suit was delivered to the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday.
Prince Andrew, as LegalReader.com has reported before, is accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre, who was also involved in litigation against the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew and Epstein purportedly had a close relationship, with the prince visiting Epstein’s New York City mansion and private island estate. Andrew, too, is believed to have hosted Epstein and his long-time associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in London.
Maxwell is currently suspected of having procured under-age women for Epstein.
In her lawsuit, Giuffre claims that Epstein essentially “gave” her to Prince Andrew.
Giuffre says that Andrew sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, spread between London, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Furthermore, Giuffre suggests that Prince Andrew knew that she was under-age at the time of their interactions.
However, Andrew has consistently denied the allegations, going so far as to say he has never met Giuffre—despite old photographs showing him with his arm wrapped around Giuffre’s waist.
“It didn’t happen,” Giuffre told the British Broadcasting Company in 2019. “I can absolutely, categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
An attorney for Andrew has also characterized Giuffre’s complaint as “baseless, non-viable, [and] potentially unlawful.”
Furthermore, Andrew’s legal team says that a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and Epstein releases Prince Andrew from “any and all liability.” However, the contents of the agreement are sealed and not publicly available.
But up until Monday, Andrew avoided the lawsuit, refusing to publicly comment and apparently disappearing into royal properties for several weeks.
Prince Andrew’s unavailability prompted U.S District Judge Lewis Kaplan to approve Giuffre’s attorneys’ request to seek alternative means to serve the royal. Last Thursday, Judge Kaplan approved the request, saying that “service of the defendant’s United States counsel is reasonably calculated to bring the papers served to the defendant’s attention, regardless of whether his US counsel is ‘authorized’ to accept service on his behalf.”
In an email sent to the prince’s U.S.-based counsel, Andrew B. Brettler, Giuffre’s legal team said: “Pursuant to Judge Kaplan’s September 16, 2021, order granting Plaintiff’s motion for alternative service (attached), I am serving by email the Summons and Complaint in the above-captioned matter on you in your capacity as counsel for the Defendant, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.”
The same email noted that papers were also sent “to the designated central authority of the United Kingdom on the court’s behalf.”
David Boles, an attorney for Giuffre, said he and his client are “pleased that the service is now behind us and that we ca n proceed to a resolution of Ms. Giuffre’s claims.”
Sources
Prince Andrew has accepted lawsuit and plans to ‘come out fighting’
Prince Andrew served with sexual assault lawsuit after papers sent to US lawyer
Prince Andrew’s US attorney served with sexual assault lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers claim
Join the conversation!