Prince Andrew officially responds to sex assault claims in Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s lawsuit

The Duke of York has filed an official denial to sex assault claims in a civil lawsuit by his accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre and called for a trial by jury.

Prince Andrew’s lawyers have officially responded to Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s sexual assault allegations, laying out 11 key reasons why the civil case should be dismissed while also calling for a trial by jury.

Court documents filed in New York on Wednesday show the Duke of York has denied all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint”.

Ms Roberts Giuffre, 38, accuses Prince Andrew, 61, of forcing her to have sex when she was trafficked by the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein more than two decades ago, according to court documents.

Prince Andrew has vehemently denied all of the allegations against him.

In Ms Roberts Giuffre’s allegations, she accuses the Queen of England’s second son of committing “sexual assault and battery” against her when she was 17 years old on three occasions: at the London home of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell; at Epstein’s New York mansion; and on Epstein’s private island, Little St James.

An application to dismiss the case was previously denied by Judge Lewis A Kaplan.

In the 11-page document submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York today, lawyers for the royal set out the duke’s response to Ms Roberts Giuffre’s allegations “without assuming the burden of proof, and expressly denying any and all wrongdoing”.

Britain's Prince Andrew is being sued in a civil case filed by Virginia Giuffre (right). Pictures: AFP.

The Duke of York has stepped down from royal duties to fight the allegations as a private citizen. Picture: Niklas Halle'n – WPA Pool / Getty Images.

It highlighted eleven key arguments in the prince’s defense, including that Ms Roberts Giuffre’s claims are “barred in whole or in part by the applicable statute(s) of limitations”. The document also referred to Ms Roberts Giuffre’s status as a permanent resident of Australia.

Other lines of defence included that her claims are “barred by the doctrine of consent” and by “her own wrongful conduct”; and that by entering into the 2009 agreement with Jeffrey Epstein she “waived the claims now asserted in the complaint”.

The document concludes: “Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the Complaint.”

Earlier, Buckingham Palace announced the royal would have his military titles and patronages removed and he would fight the case as a private individual.