Questions About Sex Life and Private Parts: Prince Andrew Reportedly Faces Off Limits Deposition
18:21 GMT 14.01.2022 (Updated: 15:17 GMT 28.05.2023)
© AFP 2023 / Steve Parsons / Ben Gabbe
Subscribe
The Duke of York has been sued by an American woman, Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced into an intimate relationship with the royal when she was a minor. Prince Andrew has consistently denied the accusations and contested several of Mrs Giuffre's claims.
Prince Andrew is facing an "off limits" deposition, which will see him answering embarrassing questions, the Mirror reported. The outlet spoke with lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a US financier charged with running a sex-trafficking network of minors in 2019. Kuvin said the prince may face all sorts of questions from his accuser’s lawyers, including about his sex life and private parts.
"Nothing is off limits because if an underage girl can describe what the Duke of York’s private parts look like... how would that be if they had not had a relationship?" Spencer Kuvin asked.
He added that because Prince Andrew mentioned his family, while discussing the issue in an interview with the BBC, senior members of the royal family, including Prince Andrew’s mother could be asked to testify in the trial.
"He mentioned his wife as well as his daughters. They can now all legally be deposed. The lawyers could even try for the Queen. I don’t doubt they will, but as a sovereign, it will be almost impossible to do," the lawyer said.
Earlier this year, Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew’s bid to dismiss the civil lawsuit against him, ruling that the claims made by his accuser Virginia Giuffre were “legally sufficient”. This means that the case will go to trial, which is scheduled for late 2022.
"Mrs Giuffre’s complaint is neither ‘unintelligible’ nor 'vague' nor 'ambiguous'," the judge said.
Previously Prince Andrew’s lawyers argued that Mrs Giuffre’s lawsuit was unconstitutional and said that a settlement she struck with Jeffrey Epstein protected the royal from liability.
"Mrs Giuffre’s complaint is neither ‘unintelligible’ nor 'vague' nor 'ambiguous'," the judge said.
Previously Prince Andrew’s lawyers argued that Mrs Giuffre’s lawsuit was unconstitutional and said that a settlement she struck with Jeffrey Epstein protected the royal from liability.
What Are the Allegations Against Prince Andrew?
Virginia Giuffre (nee Roberts) is one of the alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a US financier, who was charged with running a sex-trafficking network of minors in 2019. Long before that, in 2008, he served a prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but thanks to a plea deal received a lenient punishment.
Epstein had many friends in high circles, including Prince Andrew, former US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell groomed girls and young women for the financier, offering them jobs as masseuses in the house of the millionaire. That is how Giuffre ended up working for Epstein.
The mother of three claims that when she was 17, which is considered a minor in most US states, she was trafficked to London (where 17 is not a minor), and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew. She was introduced to the royal at a nightclub before the four of them headed to Maxwell's mansion, where the royal reportedly slept with the girl.
Giuffre also claims that the Duke of York had sex with her on two other separate occasions without her consent. The woman came forward with the accusations in the 2010s, but the case only received attention in 2019 after Epstein's arrest.
That same year, Prince Andrew gave an interview to the BBC where he tried to explain his relationship with Epstein as well as answer the allegations made against him. The royal categorically denied the accusations. He claimed he had an alibi for the day the purported sexual intercourse occurred in London - he went with one of his daughters to a PizzaExpress.
The Duke also claimed that he never met Giuffre, something which has been questioned as there is at least one photo showing the royal standing with the girl with Ghislaine Maxwell behind them (he maintains it could have been doctored). Two people also claim to have seen him with Giuffre – at a nightclub and on Epstein's private island, where the financier and his powerful friends are believed to have sexually abused girls and women.
The Duke also claimed that he never met Giuffre, something which has been questioned as there is at least one photo showing the royal standing with the girl with Ghislaine Maxwell behind them (he maintains it could have been doctored). Two people also claim to have seen him with Giuffre – at a nightclub and on Epstein's private island, where the financier and his powerful friends are believed to have sexually abused girls and women.
