🔴A lawsuit has been filed against Prince Andrew in New York, seeking damages for allegedly sexually abusing Virginia Roberts Giuffre when she was underage.
From taking the stand to ignoring the claim, @Telegraph assesses Prince Andrew's options.
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telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/1…
❌Will this go to court?
Quite possibly. Virginia Giuffre (nee Roberts) has claimed in court papers filed in a New York civil court that the Prince sexually abused her 20 years ago on three separate occasions: in London, New York and in the US Virgin Islands
❌Will Prince Andrew take the stand in New York?
Unlikely. That’s not an attractive proposition since a cross-examination of Prince Andrew is unlikely to go well.
A trip to the US also raises the possibility of the FBI bringing him in for questioning
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/1…
❌The alleged events happened 20 years ago - why is there a civil lawsuit now?
New York introduced a Child Victims Act in 2019 that allowed alleged survivors of under-18 sexual abuse to bring a case which was previously time-barred
❌Can Prince Andrew avoid court?
One option is to settle the case out of court but that is not a very welcoming prospect.
Prince Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing but settling the case before it comes to court would nevertheless seriously damage his reputation
❌Could he just ignore the legal claim?
Yes. One possible course of action is to do nothing and ignore any attempts by Ms Giuffre’s legal team to serve him with legal papers.
However, the civil trial could then go ahead in the Prince's absence
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/1…
❌A civil trial going ahead in the Prince’s absence and would hugely increase the chances of a judge finding in the claimant's favour.
Such a ruling would be catastrophic for the Prince because then a court would be officially labelling him a child sex abuser
❌Could the case be switched to the UK?
Lawyers with good knowledge of the case suggest that the Prince could try to force the case to be switched to the High Court in London where they could try and have it struck out on grounds of lack of evidence
The Prince might also argue that he has some form of sovereign or crown immunity because he was a working member of the Royal Family and part of the British state apparatus at the time of the alleged incidents.
Read more: telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/1…
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