Embattled Prince Andrew has demanded that his US legal team “cancel Christmas” amid a last-ditch effort to have his sex abuse court case thrown out, reported the Mirror.
As his California-based lawyers are set to deliver their final submissions to the New York court on 13 December in the civil lawsuit filed by alleged Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre, they have been ordered to “leave no stone unturned”.
Giuffre claims that she was forced into intimate relations with the royal on three occasions when she was still a minor. The prince has vehemently denied all allegations.
The “incredibly stressed” royal is said to have become “totally consumed” with the legal battle, staying up late to discuss every detail of his team's strategy ahead of a final decision on 4 January whether he will face a full trial.
"The Court will hear argument on defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint on January 4, 2022, at 10 am" (1500 GMT) wrote Judge Lewis Kaplan in early November.
“The feeling was he was telling them to effectively cancel Christmas and get totally across all the eventualities of what could happen in the case so there are, as he put it, ‘no more surprises’,” a source was cited as saying.
Prince Andrew is also increasingly concerned over the financial burden the court case has placed upon his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, according to sources cited by the publication. Legal fees could potentially spiral into millions, it is claimed.
“The tension in the camp is palpable. No one is really sure what Andrew’s involvement is other than asking a lot of questions, but he spends his days and nights poring over documents, a royal source was quoted as saying.
It was added that the Duke of York had been particularly stressed several days ago, and reportedly argued with one of his lawyers. Unless they are successful in throwing the “baseless lawsuit” out, the royal is aware “they are all potentially in it for the long haul,” an insider suggested.
Virginia Giuffre sued Prince Andrew in the US for unspecified damages in August, accusing him of raping and abusing her when she was a minor. She claims she was trafficked out to the British royal by his former friend, the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Queen’s son has vehemently denied all the claims, saying that he has “no recollection” of ever meeting the woman.
As Prince Andrew’s legal team asked a New York court to dismiss the case in a filing in Manhattan on 29 October they insisted his sexual assault accuser was out to profit from the "baseless lawsuit" against him "to achieve another payday."
"Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has secured for herself over the years. This presents a compelling motive for Giuffre to continue filing frivolous lawsuits against individuals such as Prince Andrew, whose sullied reputation is only the latest collateral damage of the Epstein scandal," wrote attorney Andrew Brettler.
The royal's lawyers also argued that a 2009 settlement Giuffre signed with Epstein prevented her from suing anyone else in relation her sexual abuse allegations
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell. This photo was included in an affidavit in which Giuffre alleged that she was directed to have sex with Andrew
© Photo : Florida Southern District Court
Court documents filed on behalf of Prince Andrew’s accuser condemned the Queen’s second son, 61, for launching a “baseless, defamatory” attack on her credibility, character and motives.
Previously a judge said a target date for a potential trial could be between October to December 2022.
Meanwhile, Epstein’s former girlfriend and Prince Andrew’s acquaintance Ghislaine Maxwell is on trial in New York on charges that she recruited underage girls for the tycoon to abuse between 1994 and 2004. She has pleaded not guilty. She faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted. A source close to Prince Andrew was cited as saying he was “aware” the case was progressing but “has no involvement”.