Prince Andrew seeking jury trial in sex assault case in New York

Britain's Prince Andrew is seen on April 11, 2021 in Windsor, England and Virginia Giuffre is seen on October 22, 2019 in New York City

Andrew, the second son of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, withdrew from public life as a royal in 2019 after a widely ridiculed BBC interview where he sought to vindicate himself of the accusation

Britain's Prince Andrew is seeking a jury trial to clear his name in the sexual assault civil complaint he is fighting in New York, and which has already left him in disgrace and forced him to withdraw from royal duties, his lawyers announced Wednesday.

"Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint," his attorney wrote in a motion filed at a Manhattan federal court.

The prince has not been criminally charged and has denied the allegations.

There is still the possibility that the two parties could reach a financial settlement outside of court -- though Giuffre's New York lawyer, David Bowies, told AFP Wednesday: "We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms Giuffre for her own abuse at his deposition and trial."

She sued the prince last year for unspecified damages, alleging that she was trafficked to him by Epstein and Maxwell.

The motion filed on Wednesday, which contested each point in Giuffre's complaint, reiterated that "Prince Andrew denies that he was a co-conspirator of Epstein or that Epstein trafficked girls to him."

As well as the London allegations, Giuffre also says Andrew assaulted her at Epstein's home in New York, and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew's attorneys said in a filing that they were seeking testimony from Judith Lightfoot, Giuffre's psychologist in her adopted home of Australia.

The prince's lawyers argue that Giuffre "may suffer from false memories" and want to ask Lightfoot about the "theory of false memories," Lerner wrote in a formal "letter of request" submitted to Kaplan that would compel testimony in Australia.

Kaplan said earlier this month that he expected a civil trial would come "between September and December" 2022.

The answers to those questions would be submitted as evidence to the jury, which would then decide on any financial compensation. 

Giuffre's civil complaint cannot automatically turn into a criminal proceedings, though nothing prevents US prosecutors from pursuing charges in the future if they believe Andrew has committed a crime.

In other signs of social ostracism since, Andrew last week deactivated his social media accounts and the York Racecourse in northern England has announced it is renaming an event called The Duke of York Stakes -- even though this refers to an earlier bearer of the title.

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