Prince Andrew flees to Balmoral to ‘avoid’ legal papers

Prince Andrew has made a bolt for the safety of Balmoral after he reportedly averted “multiple attempts” to serve sex assault legal papers to him at his Windsor mansion.

Prince Andrew has reportedly avoided “multiple attempts” to serve him legal papers on behalf of his sex-assault accuser — and has bolted 800 kilometres to the safety of Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish residence, just days before the first hearing.

Lawyers for Australian-based Virginia Roberts Giuffre — who is suing Prince Andrew in New York — had already conceded that it would be “difficult” to serve the 61-year-old royal in person, reports the New York Post.

The scandal-scarred royal has since been a recluse at his home in the Royal Lodge in Windsor — where security guards have turned away lawyers trying to serve the US court papers, according to the Sun.

Prince Andrew has fled to his mother’s Scottish residence to avoid being served legal papers. Picture: Getty Images

After avoiding “multiple attempts” in the past two weeks, Prince Andrew headed even further away to Balmoral, the paper noted.

He was photographed in a car with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, as the pair drove from their shared home to the Queen’s 20,000 hectare estate, where they had been earlier in the northern hemisphere summer, the outlet said.

The photographs show them arriving in the same Range Rover they left Windsor in — suggesting they were driven the more than 800km journey, which would typically take at least nine hours, rather than risking catching a flight.

He fled after “going stir-crazy inside Royal Lodge for the past few weeks,” a source told the paper.

Prince Andrew pictured with Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2001. The royal has claimed he has no memory of meeting her. Picture: Florida Southern District Court/Supplied

“He wasn’t going horse riding and couldn’t step outside because of attempts to serve him with the legal papers.

“He knows he is far safer up at Balmoral on the Queen’s estate,” the source said, noting Andrew has long been thought to be “the Queen’s favourite son.”

The trip comes before the first hearing is scheduled in Giuffre’s lawsuit on Monday. It is set to be a telephone conference, and it is not immediately clear if either Prince Andrew or his accuser are expected to join.

Giuffre’s lawsuit claims she was “forced to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will” at the behest of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell.

Prince Andrew was pictured leaving for Balmoral with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Picture: Getty Images

“Prince Andrew’s actions constitute sexual offences” including first- and third-degree rape, the lawsuit alleges, citing New York penal code, under which rape includes with someone “by forcible compulsion.”

Giuffre claims she suffered “substantial damages” from “extreme emotional distress, humiliation, fear, psychological trauma, loss of dignity and self-esteem, and invasion of her privacy.”

The Queen’s Scottish estate, Balmoral, in Aberdeen. Picture: Getty Images

Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s claims, including during a BBC interview in which he insisted he had “no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”

Neither he, his legal team nor Buckingham Palace has responded to the lawsuit.

Epstein took his own life in his New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on serious sex charges.

Maxwell is in custody in Brooklyn awaiting trial for allegedly recruiting underage girls for Epstein. She has pleaded not guilty.

– with the New York Post

Originally published as Prince Andrew flees to Balmoral to ‘avoid’ legal papers