US Judge Lewis Kaplan has issued a formal request for testimony from Prince Andrew's former assistant Robert Olney as part of the civil sexual assault case against the Duke of York.
Virginia Giuffre, 38, claims she was trafficked by the now-late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions when she was still a minor according to US law. Last August, she filed a civil lawsuit against the royal, who denies any wrongdoing.
According to court documents seen by Sky News, Kaplan wrote to the Senior Master of the Queen's Bench Division to have Olney, who worked for the prince as his equerry, testify about the Duke of York's communications with Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Giuffre, as well as Prince Andrew's trips to Epstein's properties.
Maxwell, the former girlfriend and "pimp" of the embattled financier, was convicted in December 2021 of trafficking underage girls for Epstein. She faces sentencing on 28 June, with the prospect of spending up to 60 years in a US jail.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
© AFP 2023 / US District Court - Southern District of New York (SDNY)
Separately, the US judge sent a letter to the British High Court, requesting testimony from Shukri Walker, who claims she saw the Duke of York at the Tramp nightclub in London in the early 2000s.
Kaplan said that Walker's testimony is expected to touch upon questions about the presence of Prince Andrew and Giuffre at the nightclub in March 2001, and any interaction between the two.
Walker previously alleged that she spotted the royal "with a young girl around the time that plaintiff contends Prince Andrew abused her in London after visiting Tramp Nightclub".
The US judge also requested the Australian attorney general's assistance to obtain testimony from Giuffre's husband Robert, and her therapist Dr Judith Lightfoot.
The testimony will reportedly include details about how Mr Giuffre met his wife, any discussions they had about the Duke of York, her purported childhood trauma and abuse, as well as her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell and her possible role in trafficking and recruiting young girls for the now-late convicted paedophile.
Lightfoot, in turn, is expected to give evidence about the Epstein accuser's medical treatment, diagnosis, childhood trauma, a theory of false memories, and her claims pertaining to the royal.
17 January 2022, 11:06 GMT
Kaplan requested that the testimony of all four witnesses be completed by 29 April.
Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019, with officials claiming that he committed suicide. The cause of his death, however, remains disputed amid conspiracy theories speculating over whether he was murdered to prevent him from testifying against his high-profile friends, including Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, and Bill Clinton.