Prince Andrew files legal papers DENYING all of Virginia Roberts’s sex abuse allegations

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Prince Andrew‘s legal team has filed legal papers in which the Royal denied all of Virginia Roberts’ sex abuse allegations as he prepares for a bitter court battle in the United States.

The papers, filed today by Prince Andrew’s legal counsel Andrew Brettler, contained a detail rebuttal of all of Roberts’ claims and also requested that the Royal be granted a trial by jury.

The Duke of York’s official rebuttal comes after a motion to dismiss the case on a legal technicality at the beginning of January was denied, and could see Prince Andrew himself take the stand in New York to argue his case in front of jurors.

Roberts, who is referred to in case documents by her married name Virginia Giuffre, filed a civil suit against Prince Andrew in August 2021, in which she formally accused the Royal of sexual abuse while she was being trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Over 15 pages of court documents filed at New York’s southern district court, Giuffre claimed that the Duke of York ‘committed sexual assault and battery’ against her while she was aged just 17, requesting that a judge award ‘punitive damages’ for the ‘physical and psychological’ injuries she suffered.

Prince Andrew has always vehemently denied all charges.

The Duke of York has also denied that he was ‘close friends’ with socialite and Epstein’s partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell, who was last month found guilty of five counts of child sex trafficking and faces up to 65 years in prison.

The Duke of York’s legal counsel set out the Royal’s official response to Giuffre’s allegations.

It says he denies the allegation that he sexually abused Giuffre when she was under 18 years of age.

The document, submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also sets out a series of defences ‘without assuming the burden of proof, and expressly denying any and all wrongdoing’.

The duke submitted 11 reasons why the case should be dismissed, including that Giuffre’s claims are ‘barred by the doctrine of consent’ and by ‘her own wrongful conduct’. 

The documents also included arguments that the claim should be dismissed because Giuffre is a permanent resident of Australia and that by entering into the 2009 agreement with Jeffrey Epstein she ‘waived the claims now asserted in the complaint’.

The papers concluded: ‘Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the Complaint.’

Lawyer David Boies, who is representing Virginia Giuffre in her lawsuit against Andrew, said his client and legal team were anticipating ‘confronting’ the royal about his ‘denials’.

Mr Boies said: ‘Prince Andrew’s Answer continues his approach of denying any knowledge or information concerning the claims against him, and purporting to blame the victim of the abuse for somehow bringing it on herself.

‘We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms Giuffre for her own abuse at his deposition and at trial.’

Giuffre asserted that she met Andrew while she travelled frequently with Epstein between 2000 and 2002, when her lawyers maintain she was ‘on call for Epstein for sexual purposes’ and was ‘lent out to other powerful men,’ including Andrew.   

She accuses Andrew of sexually abusing her at the London home of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, at paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein’s New York mansion and Epstein’s private island, Little St James. 

Her lawsuit said she still suffers significant emotional and psychological distress and harm. 

Epstein, 66, took his own life in a Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges – although there is widespread speculation that he was murdered while in custody to prevent him from compromising powerful individuals in the US and abroad thought to be associated with him. 

Prince Andrew’s official rebuttal of Giuffre’s claims comes just weeks after The Queen stripped him of his honorary titles, meaning he can no longer be referred to as ‘His Royal Highness’ in any capacity.

Andrew, who remains Duke of York, also loses his military titles and royal patronages ‘with the Queen’s approval and agreement’, Buckingham Palace said in a terse statement that brought his 61 years as a senior royal to a shock end. 

The Queen’s decision made on January 13 followed the day after Andrew’s motion to have the case against him dismissed on a legal technicality was unequivocally thrown out by a US judge. 

Judge Lewis Kaplan sensationally dismissed an application from the Duke of York’s lawyers to have the case shut down – freeing Ms Giuffre to pursue her high-profile case in a US court later this year. 

Andrew’s attorneys had unsuccessfully argued that her case should have been thrown out because of a newly-unsealed $500,000 settlement with Jeffrey Epstein.

Brettler argued the settlement protected Andrew because it contained a clause in which Giuffre agreed not to take legal action against ‘potential defendants’. 

But Judge Kaplan said the court was not able to consider the duke’s efforts to cast doubt on Giuffre’s claims or whether he was covered by the settlement agreement, suggesting these were issues for a trial.

He said: ‘The 2009 agreement cannot be said to demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously, the parties intended the instrument ”directly”, ”primarily”, or ”substantially”, to benefit Prince Andrew.

‘The defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects.’

Earlier this month, sources close to the Duke confirmed that he was selling his luxurious chalet in the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Verbier after a mystery buyer agreed to take it off his hands.

Andrew was only able to sell the residence, called Chalet Helora, after settling a £6.6million debt to French socialite Isabelle de Rouvre, 74, who sold it to him and Sarah Ferguson in 2014 also for £18million. 

The deal led to speculation that he would use the money to pay his rapidly expanding legal bills as he prepares to battle the lawsuit of Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked to have sex with him by paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

But Spencer Kuvin, who represented the victims of Epstein, believes the sale could actually be designed to prevent Giuffre from seizing the Duke’s assets.

The lawyer told the Mirror: ‘If Virginia gets a judgment against Andrew, if this went all the way through to trial and she received a financial judgment in her favour, she could execute on any properties he has, the most likely being his ski chalet.

‘If Andrew had properties in any companion country that would abide by such jurisdiction of the US, she can execute on those properties.’

He added: ‘If the Queen has transferred any property to him, anywhere throughout the entire world, they could try and execute on that property if successful in foreign courts.’