News / Politics

Pressure mounts on Prince Andrew to respond to his accuser in court

Wednesday, 11 August 2021 5:48 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 11 August 2021 5:51 PM ]

Prince Andrew (L) has reportedly "rushed" to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth II (R) for crisis talks on the intensifying scandal surrounding his alleged sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre when she was only 17 years old

Pressure is mounting on the embattled Duke of York to demonstrate transparency and accountability in relation to serious sexual assault allegations.

The lawyer of the Duke’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, has said the senior royal “cannot hide behind wealth and palace walls” and must respond to sexual abuse allegations filed in a New York court.

Prince Andrew sued in US by alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre

Prince Andrew is facing a long drawn out legal battle in the US as an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein accuses him of sexual assault in London and New York.

Speaking to BBC Two’s Newsnight, David Boies said Prince Andrew should allow a jury to determine the facts in the case.

“At this point litigation is the only way to establish once and for all what the truth is – and litigation is the only way to establish once for all what Prince Andrew’s evidence actually is”, Boies told BBC Newsnight.

He added that people “ignore the courts at your peril” and that “it would be very ill-advised for Prince Andrew to ignore judicial process”.

“If he does, it will be a default judgment against him that will be, in effect, enforced not only in the United States, but in virtually every civilized country in the world”, the lawyer insisted.

Giuffre’s lawsuit states that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her on three occasions and three separate locations: at the London home of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and at Epstein’s residences in Manhattan and Little St James in the US Virgin Islands.

The complaint alleges the Duke engaged in sexual acts without her consent, knowing how old she was and “that she was a sex-trafficking victim”.

"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", the complaint adds.

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew is reported to have “rushed” to Scotland to meet the Queen as a potentially second sexual abuse lawsuit looms on the horizon.

Buckingham Palace retreats in the face of escalating Epstein scandal

The British royal family is on the firing line for its refusal to decisively intervene in the scandal engulfing Prince Andrew.

The potential second lawsuit revolves around Epstein’s former Personal Assistant, Johanna Sjoberg, who claims the Duke of York groped her breast when she was 21-years-old.

As the Duke’s legal troubles escalate, more and more British commentators are worrying out aloud about the impact of these sexual scandals on the future of the monarchy.

Writing in the Daily Mirror (August 10), journalist and commentator Kevin Maguire opined that the Duke’s “sordid sex scandal” could “sink” the monarchy if the Queen “fails to do [the] right thing”.