Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s Australian link could work in the royal’s favour

Prince Andrew’s lawyers claim they have “new evidence” that proves Virginia Giuffre Roberts has no case against the royal in the US because she is “domiciled in Australia”.

New documents filed in a US court show that Prince Andrew’s lawyers are trying to stave off Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s civil lawsuit by claiming it doesn’t have jurisdiction because she is “domiciled in Australia”.

Ms Giuffre, 38, alleges she trafficked to Prince Andrew – Queen Elizabeth’s second son – for sex three times when she was 17 in 2001, by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019.

She is seeking unspecified damages.

US-born Ms Giuffre now lives in Cairns with her husband and children.

The photo Virginia Giuffre alleges was taken in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London townhouse. Picture: BBC; Supplied

The prince has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and strongly refuted the allegations made against him. He has attempted to have the “baseless” lawsuit dismissed, adding that “sensationalism and innuendo have prevailed over the truth”.

On Tuesday, Prince Andrew’s legal team filed court papers in which they claimed to have discovered “new evidence” in the case and requested “limited jurisdictional discovery” before formally challenging it.

According to the filing, Ms Giuffre’s complaint says she is a “citizen of the state of Colorado” but she has lived in Australia for “all but two of the past 19 years” and “the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over this action”.

“It is undisputed that at the time she filed this action, Ms Giuffre had an Australian Driver’s License, and was living in a AU$1.9 million home in Perth, Western Australia, where she and her husband have been raising their three children,” it continued.

“In reality, Ms Giuffre’s ties to Colorado are very limited.

“She has not lived there since at least 2019 – two years before she filed this lawsuit against Prince Andrew – and potentially, according to her own deposition testimony, not since October 2015.”

Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has vehemently denied all claims made against him. Picture: Steve Parsons / AFP.

According to a memo filed earlier this month to the Southern District of New York, Prince Andrew’s lawyers also say Ms Giuffre’s claims are based on evidence that is “not a reasonable mechanism” to be used under the New York Child Victims Act, which allowed accusers to sue beyond the statute of limitations. Ms Giuffre sued days before the act expired in August.

Lawyers say the act is used to protect victims of abuse who are under 18, though the state’s age of consent is 17, making the issue of Ms Giuffre’s consent “unsettled.”

The lawyers wrote that Ms Giuffre’s memory of consenting is also “highly subjective.”

“These highly subjective determinations are the kind most likely to be hampered by the passage of time, as memories fade, false memories are created, and witnesses die or otherwise become unavailable,” the motion read.

The Duke of York sparked fury with a legal filing in October that branded Ms Giuffre a “money-hungry sex kitten” who was only suing him for “another payday”.

Prince Andrew with nephew Prince Harry in 2006. Picture: Getty Images

David Boies, Ms Roberts Giuffre’s lawyer, then hit back in a court filing in New York opposing Prince Andrew’s motion to dismiss.

“During that interview, Prince Andrew said that he could not recall ever meeting Ms Giuffre, a denial so at odds with photographs and other evidence that it is itself indicative of guilt,” Mr Boies said.

Prince Andrew famously claimed a photo of him with his arm round Ms Giuffre – said to have been taken in Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home – could have been doctored.

The British socialite – Epstein’s former lover – is currently on trial in New York and has been repeatedly accused of “serving up” girls to the late financier.

Ms Giuffre was not listed as a victim in the indictment against Ms Maxwell and did not testify at her trial. But evidence that Ms Maxwell and Epstein flew with Ms Giuffre across the country and that they recruited her for abuse was allowed into the trial as potential corroboration of a sex-trafficking conspiracy.

A judge in New York will decide on January 4 whether to allow the lawsuit by Ms Giuffre being brought against the Duke to go to trial.

Originally published as Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s Australian link could work in the royal’s favour