Civil trial between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre set for September after royal fails to have case dismissed

The Duke fails to have a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre thrown out and now faces giving sworn testimony at a trial.

Prince Andrew has failed to have the high profile civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre thrown out of court and now faces giving sworn testimony at a trial later in the year.

Andrew, 61, had applied to have the case dismissed, but US district court judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Wednesday that a settlement between Jeffrey Epstein and Ms Giuffre didn’t release the prince from facing the allegations.

At a court hearing last week, Andrew’s layer Andrew Brettler had argued his client was immune from prosecution because of a 2009 sealed agreement Ms Giuffre had made with Epstein in accepting $500,000 from him.

But the judge disagreed, ruling Andrew couldn’t invoke the terms of the release, which could only be enforced by Epstein, who committed suicide while in federal detention in 2019.

In a serious blow to Andrew, who has vigorously denied Ms Giuffre’s claims, the judge said the “defendant‘s motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects’’.

A photo taken at an undisclosed location shows (from left) Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell. Picture: AFP

“The 2009 Agreement cannot be said to demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously, the parties intended the instrument ‘directly,’ ’primarily,’ or ’substantially,’ to benefit Prince Andrew,” Judge Kaplan said

On another point he said: “Ms Giuffre‘s complaint is neither ’unintelligible’ nor ’vague’ nor ’ambiguous’. It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse.”

The judge said that Andrew sought more detail about the precise details of Ms Giuffre’s claims, which he could obtain during pre-trial discovery.

“Moreover, the defendant‘s assertion that he cannot reasonably prepare a response to plaintiff’s allegations plainly contradicts the content of his moving papers, in which he denies Ms Giuffre’s allegations in no uncertain terms.”

Andrew will now be expected to give sworn testimony in writing, or in person during the blockbuster trial, expected to begin in September.

In the coming months, Andrew and other witnesses will be interviewed by opposing lawyers during the discovery process and Andrew could ask for a summary judgment at its conclusion.

Ms Giuffre’s legal team has indicated it will seek depositions from two unnamed British witnesses, which could be members of the Royal family.

However, legal analysts believe the judge’s decision has significantly increased pressure on Andrew to try to settle the case with a multimillion-dollar payout to Ms Giuffre, 34, so that there is no ongoing embarrassment to the Queen, who will celebrate her platinum jubilee in June.

Andrew has put his ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland on the market for $A25m, reportedly to help pay his legal costs.

But Ms Giuffre, who now lives with her family in Perth, has told friends that she wants the case to go to trial to send a message that anyone with power and privilege accused of abusing young girls would face legal scrutiny.

Virginia Giuffre in an undated handout photo released by the courts. Picture: AFP

Virginia Giuffre speaks to the BBC about her allegations against Prince Andrew.

She has accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her on three occasions in 2001 when she was aged 17. She says she was trafficked by Epstein to provide sex to royalty, politicians, academics, businessmen and other professional and personal acquaintances.

Ms Giuffre alleges she had sex with Andrew at the London mews house owned by Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as at Epstein’s New York home and on Epstein’s private island, Little St James, in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew has previously said he was at Pizza Express in Woking in March, 2001 when the first offence was alleged to have occurred. He has also denied aspects of Ms Giuffre’s account that he was sweaty on the dance floor of a nightclub because he can no longer sweat as a result of serving in the Falkland Islands war.