The legal team of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who is a member of the British Royal Family, appealed to a court on Tuesday, 4 January, to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit brought against him in the US by campaigner Virginia Giuffre, The Guardian reported.
His lawyers are expected to argue, before a New York judge, that a once-confidential settlement between Giuffre and the late Jeffrey Epstein that was revealed on Monday, 3 January, protected Andrew from legal action.
Andrew is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The Allegation
Giuffre had sued the Duke of York for unspecified damages in 2021, alleging that he sexually assaulted her two decades ago, when she was 17 – a minor under US law.
She had also alleged that Epstein had lent her out for sexual encounters with his associates, and that Prince Andrew was one of them.
Andrew has categorically denied these claims.
His lawyers will cite an agreement made public for the first time on Monday that shows Giuffre agreeing to drop a 2009 Florida case against Epstein for $500,000.
One of the provisions of the settlement 'protected' "other potential defendants" from being sued over alleged sexual offences committed by Epstein.
This deal is what Andrew's lawyers will refer to when they urge judge Lewis Kaplan to quash Giuffre's lawsuit.
Giuffre's attorneys, however, have said that the above-mentioned deal was "irrelevant," and that her case against Andrew would continue.
Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender, who died in his jail cell in August 2019.
(With inputs from The Guardian.)
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