Prince Andrew’s lawyer has said claims of sexual assault against him are “baseless, unviable and potentially unlawful”.
Andrew Brettler represented the Duke of York in a pre-trial hearing in New York.
The hearing looked at whether the duke was properly served with the lawsuit by accuser Virginia Giuffre, the woman who has launched a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault.
Prince Andrew has always categorically denied any sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre
Image: Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations
Judge Lewis Kaplan told Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, he has a week to find an alternative means of serving the papers on Prince Andrew.
Mr Brettler said they have gone to the high court to verify validity of how papers have been served.
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The duke’s lawyer also told the hearing on Monday that Ms Giuffre previously entered into a “settlement agreement” that would nullify her current lawsuit.
He added that Andrew’s lawyers have “significant concerns about the propriety of this lawsuit”.
“We believe this is a baseless, unviable and potentially unlawful lawsuit that the plaintiff has filed against the duke,” he said.
“There has been a settlement agreement that the plaintiff has entered into in a prior action that releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability.”
Mr Brettler was apparently appointed at the last moment after Ms Giuffre’s legal team accused Andrew’s lawyers of having “stonewalled” their attempts to get them to engage with the case.
He has been described as a Hollywood lawyer who reportedly represented director Bryan Singer and musician Ryan Adams, and who has carved out a successful career defending allegations arising from the #MeToo movement.
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Prince Andrew ‘can’t ignore’ US lawsuit
During the hearing, Judge Kaplan repeatedly sought to limit the scope of the proceedings to the matter of whether or not the duke had been properly served notice of the case, and what action the court needs to take to ensure the legal papers reach him.
Ms Giuffre claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the duke, when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
Ms Giuffre earlier said in a statement that the lawsuit was brought under the Child Victims Act to allege she was trafficked to him and sexually abused by him.
“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” she said.
The brother of Virginia Giuffre has praised the King’s decision to strip his brother Andrew of his titles – and has called on him to pressure Donald Trump into releasing the Epstein files.
Speaking to Gareth Barlow on Sky News, Sky Roberts said the King had “set a precedent to the rest of the world” that he was standing with survivors of abuse.
“But it’s not enough. He’s [Andrew] is still walking around a free man. He’s not going to be living on the side of the road. He should be investigated,” he said.
Mr Roberts also accused the US government of “safeguarding documents of people that are implicated” with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epsteinand his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
“We need to fully investigate them. He should tell President Trump ‘put your big boy pants on’, and let’s get these Epstein files released so that we can go after these monsters properly.”
Ms Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year, claimed that – as a teenager – she had sex with Andrew on three occasions after being trafficked by Epsteinand Maxwell.
Andrew has always denied Ms Giuffre’s allegations. Ms Giuffre sued in 2021, and the case was settled outside court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.
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1:33
‘Huge’ part of royal statement you might have missed
In a previous statement, issued on Thursday after the announcement that Andrew will be stripped of his royal titles, the family said Ms Giuffre “never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her”.
“An ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” the family said, adding, “she declares victory”.
The family vowed to continue fighting until “all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell” are brought to justice.
The disgraced royal will now be treated as a commoner and go by the name Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
‘Virginia should be here celebrating’
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Roberts said the family has felt “a mixed bag of emotions” since the palace’s latest announcement.
“[Virginia] should be sitting on this camera with you right now celebrating this but also demanding more justice,” he said.
“I think it’s a mixed bag of emotions over the last 24 hours but we are just hell bent to not let her voice die.”
Image: Virginia Giuffre in 2019. File pic: AP
Mr Roberts added he would welcome a meeting with the King and “love the opportunity to tell my sister’s story to the palace”.
“If the King is saying he stands with survivors out there and if the King is saying he stands with survivors and their victims, then meet with us, have a conversation with us,” he said.
“We’re real people with real stories that can affect real change and I think my sister did something unprecedented that says advocacy can affect change, advocacy can lead to justice.”
Andrew no longer Duke of York
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been removed from the official roll of the peerage, representing a significant step in the formal revocation of his titles.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that his name was struck from the roll after the King decided to strip his brother of the Prince and Duke of York titles and the HRH style, effectively ending his public role.
Image: Andrew has been stripped from his titles. Pic: PA
Dukes, including the Duke of York, are recorded on the roll of the peerage, which is maintained by the Crown Office under the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor, David Lammy.
As justice secretary, Mr Lammy was set to receive royal warrants from the King to remove the Duke from the roll, along with his Prince title and HRH style.
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2:56
The King’s hand was forced by public opinion as he sends his brother to ‘life in exile’
Andrew to leave Royal Lodge in Windsor
In addition to losing his royal titles, Andrew has been ordered to leave Royal Lodge – a 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park where he lived for more than 20 years.
Image: Royal Lodge
Andrew will now be moving to a property on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, around 100 miles north of London, which is privately owned by the King.
The estate is perhaps most famous as the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas holiday residence.
It remains unclear when Andrew will leave the property, though it is expected to be “as soon as practicable”.
Image: The view from the gardens of Sandringham House in Norfolk. Pic: iStock
It is understood that the King made the decision due to his brother’s significant lapses in judgement, and had the backing of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales.
Sarah Ferguson, who previously lived with her former husband Andrew at Royal Lodge, will not be provided accommodation by the King and will need to find a new residence.
Andrew’s downfall
The latest developments in the long-running controversy come amid renewed scrutiny of the King’s brother, after he tried earlier this month to address Ms Giuffre’s allegations by relinquishing his dukedom and other honours ahead of the release of her posthumous memoir.
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2:56
Prince Andrew thought ‘sex with me was his birthright’
Instead of easing scrutiny, Andrew faced mounting criticism over his property, and some MPs pushed for the issue to be debated in parliament.
He has also been the subject of damaging media reports, including allegations that he attempted to enlist the Metropolitan Police to collect information for a smear campaign against Ms Giuffre.
The King’s decision to strip his brother of his titles is likely to be seen by commentators as an effort by the royal family to distance itself from Andrew.
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The public and politicians had spoken, and the King, it seems, had no choice.
As head of the institution, family bonds took second place; the survival of the monarchy and its reputation in the end was paramount.
But while the removal of the titles, styles and honours, from the man now just known as Andrew, is seismic, there are other significant shifts in this bombshell pronouncement from the palace.
The decision to publicly state that “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse” is huge.
In all the years that the allegations have rumbled on against Andrew – accusations he denies – I have never publicly heard the royal family come out in support of the victims around this story.
Andrew himself, during his Newsnight interview, never offered any kind of sympathy or apology to Jeffrey Epstein’s wider victims.
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0:41
Can Andrew still become King?
With both Queen Camilla and the Duchess of Edinburgh working to support victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the family’s silence has always felt difficult to fully understand.
Her family said she brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.
The piling pressure was starting to overshadow the work of Andrew’s wider family. And with the Prince of Wales soon heading to Brazil for his Earthshot award, enough was enough.
We understand the Royal Family, including Prince William backed the King’s leadership on this matter.
Image: Both Andrew, and former secretary of state Peter Mandelson’s public lives have been dismantled by their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: PA
Andrew will leave Royal Lodge, his large home on the Windsor estate. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also lived there, will “make her own arrangements”.
It was their family home for many years. Both daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who grew up there, will keep their titles.
Image: Andrew’s ex-wife has continued to live at the Royal Lodge estate but will now be left to make her own housing arrangements. Pic: PA
As for Andrew, he will soon move to Sandringham – the King’s private Norfolk estate – where the family traditionally gathers for Christmas; and he will be funded privately by the King.
This is all a formal process carried out in consultation with official authorities, but the government supports the decision taken.
This will not have been easy for the King, but he knew he could not ignore public opinion. The criticism and anger directed at Andrew was never going to stop – and only he had the power to take the ultimate action against his own brother.
For years, Andrew enjoyed the perks and privileges of his powerful position, but his birthright could not withstand withering public disdain.