A lawyer for Virginia Giuffre has mentioned she is unlikely to just accept a authorized settlement that doesn’t “maintain Prince Andrew to account” in her sexual assault lawsuit towards the duke.
This week, the Queen’s second son – who’s combating the civil US case as a non-public citizen – submitted a 41-point denial of Ms Giuffre’s claims, which embrace allegations that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years outdated.
Reportedly sparking some concern at Buckingham Palace, the Duke of York’s legal professionals demanded a trial by jury, probably setting him as much as turn out to be the primary member of the trendy royal household to undergo being cross-examined over critical allegations – within the Queen’s platinum jubilee yr.
Nonetheless, some specialists have urged that his shock transfer this week, which included a denial that he was an in depth buddy of the now convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, might be an try at bluffing, and that the duke should attempt to settle to be able to keep away from harm to the monarchy.
However Ms Giuffre’s New York lawyer, David Boies, has repeatedly warned that his consumer just isn’t thinking about a purely monetary settlement.
“What’s necessary for Virginia is to vindicate herself and the opposite victims. To not let somebody escape duty, simply due to their wealth and energy. To carry Prince Andrew to account. However how that vindication is achieved continues to be open [to discussion],” he instructed the Telegraph.
Mr Boies mentioned he believes Ms Giuffre “could be unlikely to settle in a scenario during which any individual simply handed over a cheque”, including: “So if Prince Andrew maintains, ‘I’ve by no means heard of this individual’, ‘I do not know who she is’, ‘the pictures are faux’ – then I don’t suppose that we might wish to decide on that foundation.”
He added: “That mentioned, in case you had a settlement that was giant sufficient to be, in impact, a vindication, then it’s one thing we might clearly have a look at.”
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Described this month by a former federal prosecutor as “the best deposition taker in fashionable American jurisprudence”, Mr Boies mentioned: “We’re wanting ahead to confronting Prince Andrew along with his denials and makes an attempt guilty Ms Giuffre for his personal abuse, each on the deposition and the trial.”
He added: “However an unlucky reality for him is that in case you say this stuff while you’re submitting papers, it turns into actually exhausting to maintain that underneath cross-examination. And when you possibly can’t maintain these broad denials, you’re not simply again to floor zero, you’re behind, since you’ve misplaced your credibility.”
The duke instructed the BBC’s Newsnight programme in 2019 that he had “no recollection of ever assembly this girl, none in any respect”, and – in his denial of dancing along with his accuser at a London nightclub – claimed to have been left unable to sweat after serving within the Falklands battle.
Earlier this month, Manhattan federal court docket choose Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew’s bid to have Ms Giuffre’s case towards him thrown out.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens has warned {that a} trial, together with the authorized proceedings earlier than it, may threaten the existence of the monarchy by sparking a “debate concerning the relevancy and appropriateness of the royal household”.
