Prince Andrew’s lawyers lose first court test over sexual abuse lawsuit

Prince’s team couldn’t convince US court the UK should have jurisdiction over documents in sex abuse suit.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, arrives to attend a church service at St Mary the Virgin Church in Hillington, Norfolk. Picture: AFP.

Lawyers for Prince Andrew have been told to appear in person before a New York court next month to continue legal arguments about the civil claim brought against Andrew under the US Child Victims Act by Queenslander Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

This follows a short appearance this morning via teleconference where lawyers for Andrew tried to convince a US judge that the British High Court should have jurisdiction to determine whether the royal had been properly served with legal papers relating to the civil matter.

Andrew’s lawyer Andrew Brettler told Judge Lewis Caplan that the sex assault claim against the prince is “baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful” and he raised a past settlement, currently sealed, that had been made between Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein.

The prince’s team wants access to that financial settlement, believing it might contain a clause precluding her from suing any of Epstein’s associates.

Judge Caplan reminded Mr Brettler – who has also appeared for other high profile men accused of sexual abuse such as Call Me By My Name actor Armie Hammer – that the case will be litigated in the United States, before asking Ms Giuffre’s team to try and serve them again.

The judge was inclined to believe that the papers had been served but wanted to exhaust all avenues in the next weeks to ensure this was the case.

The biggest Royal Family scandal looms as Prince Andrew’s lawyers argue a legal technicality in a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him. https://t.co/OF81oZFF1j#TheLatest#7NEWSpic.twitter.com/gJ6axM3XIM

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) September 13, 2021

Mr Brettler had argued that the US court should wait until receiving a legal response from the senior master of the High Court in the United Kingdom. He also suggested that the Hague Convention had not been followed, but this was given short shrift by the judge.

Up until several hours before the pre-trial hearing it was uncertain if any legal representative for Andrew would even appear.

Lawyers for Ms Giuffre, who now lives in Queensland, insist that Andrew was served when the documents were delivered to a police officer guarding his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor on August 27 and also by a copy sent by Royal Mail.

She has accused Andrew of sexual abuse on three occasions in London, New York and the US Virgin Islands, when she was aged 17 having been pimped out to him by Jeffrey Epstein.

In a BBC interview in November, 2019, Andrew denied any wrongdoing and said he couldn’t remember ever meeting Ms Giuffre.

Ms Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies said: “I understand that Prince Andrew is to challenge our service. We would ask the court to grant an alternative means of service in the interests of moving the lawsuit along.

The judge expressed some frustration with Andrew’s strategy, even telling his lawyer to stop wasting time and money on technicalities.

“I can see a lot of legal fees being spent, and time and delay, which ultimately might not be productive for anyone,” the judge said.

The case will return to the court on October 13.