Prince Andrew.Photo: STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
A judge rejectedPrince Andrew’s attempt to have asexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to grant the royal’s motion to dismiss on Wednesday, meaningQueen Elizabeth’s son could face a trial date between September and December 2022, according toCNN.
A palace spokesman tells PEOPLE, “We would not comment on what is an ongoing legal matter.”
Prince Andrew; Virginia Roberts Giuffre.Alexander Koerner/Getty; Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
Prince Andrew’s attorneys argued last week to dismissVirginia Roberts Giuffre’s civil sexual assault lawsuit after it was revealed that convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epsteinreached a $500,000 settlement with Giuffre, in which she agreed not to sue any other “potential defendant.”
In the2009 document, which does not name Prince Andrew, Giuffre agreed to “release, acquit, satisfy and forever discharge” Epstein and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant.”
Lawyers for Prince Andrew, 61, said the deal means she cannot sue him, but Giuffre’s attorneys retorted that the terms of the Florida settlement are irrelevant to her case against the royal.
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein.Ian Forsyth/Getty Images; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan
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.
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 ofGhislaine Maxwellon March 10, 2001, when Giuffre was 17 years old — the royal claimed he had no recollection of the encounter.
“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.”
Ghislaine Maxwell.Laura Cavanaugh/Getty
AfterGhislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and heiress who dated Epstein, was found guilty of helping her former boyfriend groom underage girls for sexual abuse, Giuffre said the Dec. 29 verdict gave her thejustice that her “soul yearned for.”
“I hope that today is not the end but rather another step in justice being served. Maxwell did not act alone,” she said. “Others must be held accountable. I have faith that they will be.”
source: people.com
