NEW YORK (AP) – A judge gave the green light Wednesday to a lawsuit by an American woman who says Britain’s Prince Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in an opinion that Andrew’s lawyers failed to successfully challenge the constitutionality of Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit. Giuffre sued the prince in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with Andrew in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
His lawyers had said that the lawsuit lacked specificity and was disqualified by a deal she reached in 2009 with lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein. They also attacked the credibility and motives of Giuffre, saying in October that the lawsuit was aimed at achieving “another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him.”
The prince’s lawyers have said that Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre and that he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.”
The prince himself has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations. In late 2019, Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight that sex with Giuffre “didn’t happen” and he has “no recollection” of ever meeting her.