Prince Andrew; Virginia Roberts Giuffre.Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty; Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
Prince AndrewandVirginia Roberts Giuffrewill have their day in court next fall.
During a hearing on Wednesday, US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan set the timeline for the forthcoming trial over thelawsuitGiuffre filed in New York City this past August. The lawsuit centers on Giuffre’s allegations that the Duke of York forced her to have sex with him three separate times between 1999 and 2002, including occasions when she was under the age of 18. Prince Andrew has consistently denied these accusations.
Judge Kaplan said the trial would occur between September and December 2022. (Typically a specific date would be set, but the judge opted to set a window instead due to potential jury delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Giuffre’s attorney David Boies and the Duke’s attorney Andrew Brettler said during the Wednesday’s teleconference that they each anticipate to collect depositions from eight to 12 witnesses (for a possible total of 24) in advance of the trial, accordingCNN.
While the full list of witnesses is not yet known, some of the names expected are Prince Andrew’s ex-wifeSarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and his two daughters,Princess Beatriceand Princess Eugenie, according toThe Sun’s Matt Wilkinson.
Princess Eugenie, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice in 2018.Chris Jackson/Getty
Prince Andrew’s older daughter is of particular interest as the Duke’s dismissal of one of Giuffre’s claims directly involves Beatrice, 33.
Two months after Epstein’s death, Andrewparticipated in a BBC interviewintended to clarify his relationship with the disgraced financier and also address Giuffre’s allegations.
Speaking specifically about Giuffre’s claim that he danced with her at London’s exclusive Tramp nightclub before allegedly having sex in a mansion in the upmarket Belgravia neighborhood,Queen Elizabeth’s second son said, “No, that couldn’t have happened because the date that’s being suggested I was at home with the children.”
He explained, “I’d taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at I suppose sort of four or five in the afternoon. And then because the Duchess was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other one is there. I was on terminal leave at the time from the Royal Navy so, therefore, I was at home.”
BBC/Mark Harrison
When BBCNewsnightanchor Emily Maitlis raised the issue of a photograph showing the royal with his arm around Giuffre’s waist — thought to have been taken inside the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell on March 10, 2001, when Giuffre was 17 years old — the royal claimed he had no recollection of the encounter.
“I have absolutely no memory of that photograph ever being taken,” Andrew told Maitlis, before questioning the authenticity of the picture itself because he’s wearing his “traveling clothes” as opposed to his regular suit and tie. He even suggested that his left hand has been photoshopped onto Giuffre’s side in the image.
“I don’t remember that photograph ever being taken,” he said. “I don’t remember going upstairs in the house because that photograph was taken upstairs and I am not entirely convinced that…I mean that is…that is what I would describe as me in that…in that picture but I can’t…we can’t be certain as to whether or not that’s my hand on her whatever it is, left… left side.”
Prince Charles and Prince Andrew.Leon Neal/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Once Giuffre’s team has responded to the motion to dismiss, the Duke’s lawyers have until December 13 to file a reply.
source: people.com
