Britain’s Prince Andrew has accepted that an alleged abuse victim’s lawsuit from the United States has been duly served on him. He had initially contested the civil suit because it questioned the jurisdiction of the New York court and the proper service of the complaint.
According to a court document filed in New York on Friday, the Duke of York’s lawyers and plaintiff Virginia Giuffre have now agreed that Prince Andrew has been officially informed of the lawsuit since Tuesday. He has until the end of October to comment on the allegations.
The lawsuit was served on Queen Elizabeth II’s second eldest son on August 27, according to court documents – but not in person. A representative of Giuffres said he had given the document to a police officer at the entrance to the Prince’s residence in Windsor, England.
The lawyers of Prince Andrews refused to recognize this type of delivery. Guiffres lawyers then called a UK court. The responsible court in London finally agreed to take over the formal delivery of the documents to Prince Andrew.
Giuffre accuses Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her more than 20 years ago as a minor. The now 38-year-old claims to have been “loaned” to Prince Andrew by the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at the age of 17 and is demanding compensation.
The allegations against Prince Andrew have been in the room since 2019. He always denied the allegations and stated that he could not remember a meeting with Giuffre. However, he resigned from his royal duties after an unsuccessful TV interview in 2019.
The former helicopter pilot and war veteran, who is divorced and has two children, has rarely appeared in public since then. In April he attended the funeral of his father, Prince Philip, in Windsor with other senior members of the royal family.
The multimillionaire Epstein is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women and incited them into prostitution for years. The well-connected investment banker, already convicted of sex crimes, was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell after his new arrest in 2019. According to official sources, he committed suicide.
Epstein was in contact with numerous politicians and celebrities, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.