Prince Andrew sued for alleged sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre

Prince Andrew is being sued for alleged sexual abuse of a woman who says she was ‘lent out’ for underage sex by pedophile US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at Ms Maxwell’s London home.

Prince Andrew is being sued for alleged sexual abuse of a woman who says she was “lent out” for underage sex by pedophile US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The filing at the US District Court in Manhattan said Virginia Giuffre, who now lives in Queensland, was the plaintiff in the case against the defendant, named as “Prince Andrew, Duke of York”.

Ms Giuffre, originally from Florida, alleges she “was regularly abused by Epstein and was lent out by him to other powerful men for sexual purposes”.

“One such powerful man … was the Defendant, Prince Andrew,” the court papers say.

According to the complaint, Ms Giuffre said Andrew sexually abused her at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, when she was under 18.

“Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew forced (the) Plaintiff, a child, to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will,” it said.

Andrew, 61, has vehemently denied claims he had sex with Ms Giuffre, and said he has no recollection of meeting her.

But the allegations threaten to damage the royal family. Andrew, the Queen’s second son, stepped back from royal duties in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein.

The civil action against the duke could require him to be questioned under oath and give up letters and digital correspondence if he contests the case. If he fails to appear he could face a judgment and damages set in his absence.

Ms Giuffre, who has previously made her claims in TV interviews, is suing Andrew for “exemplary, and punitive damages”.

“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions,” she said in a statement. “I did not come to this decision lightly. As a mother and a wife, my family comes first. I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates.”

Lawyers for Ms Giuffre say they wrote to the duke last month noting the imminent deadline for her to file suit.

They complained of seeking “so far without success to meet with Prince Andrew or his counsel … to discuss whether a negotiated resolution might be appropriate”. They said that if he did not ­respond Ms Giuffre would need “to assert those claims now”.

Ms Giuffre also claims Andrew abused her at Epstein’s New York mansion and on Little St James, Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands. Ms Giuffre, now 38, is suing Andrew under the Child Victims Act as she was 17 at the time.

Epstein was a multimillion-dollar hedge fund manager who befriended celebrities including former president Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. He killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.

The court papers included a photograph alleged to show ­Andrew and Ms Giuffre at Ms Maxwell’s London home before one incident of sexual abuse.

Ms Maxwell pleaded not guilty in April to charges of recruiting underage girls for Epstein.

She allegedly befriended girls with shopping and movie theatre outings, and later coaxed them into giving Epstein nude massages during which he would engage in sex acts.

AFP