Prince Andrew is for certain to be questioned in regards to the measurement and form of his manhood if he fails to settle with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, eminent US attorneys stated as we speak.
And in additional humiliation for the Royal Household, his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York and their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie are additionally more likely to be deposed for questioning over Andrew’s intercourse life and alibis.
Andrew himself will face a no-holds-barred taped video interview lasting seven hours, with out breaks, all underneath oath. If he’s discovered to have lied, he could possibly be charged with perjury if a decide decides he has lied.
His disastrous BBC Newsnight interview means Ms Giuffre’s could even attempt to interview Prince Charles and even perhaps try ‘the inconceivable’ and summon the Queen to present proof about what her second son has advised her, based on a lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
Her New York lawyer David Boies stated his crew will search to ‘depose between ten to 12 individuals’, and admitted this might embody Fergie, Beatrice and Eugenie.
Florida litigator Spencer Kuvin stated: ‘It’s with out query the Duke shall be requested about his personal components. Nothing is off limits as a result of if an underage woman can describe what the Duke of York’s personal components seem like… how would that be if that they had not had a relationship?’
Andrew’s medical data may also be requested, to determine if he’s telling the reality about claims he can not sweat because of a rush of adrenaline whereas on a Royal Navy ship underneath assault within the 1982 Falklands Conflict fought between Britain and Argentina.
Mr Kuvin advised the Mirror: ‘Andrew’s disastrous BBC Newsnight interview will hang-out him. He talked about his spouse in addition to his daughters. They’ll now all legally be deposed. The attorneys may even attempt for the Queen. I do not doubt they’ll, however as a sovereign, it is going to be nearly inconceivable to do’.
Andrew now faces a selection between settling Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s intercourse abuse lawsuit or going by a doubtlessly ruinous court docket battle wherein he would probably be questioned about his sexual historical past.
Prince Andrew is for certain to be questioned about his intercourse life and the dimensions and form of his manhood if he fails to settle with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, attorneys declare
The Duke of York was pictured sitting behind a Vary Rover this morning as he was being pushed from his home in Windsor Nice Park
A New York decide has sensationally dominated that the Queen’s second son could be tried over claims he sexually assaulted Miss Roberts when she was 17 — allegations which Andrew has categorically denied.
Specialists imagine that Andrew, who earned the nickname ‘Playboy Prince’ as a bachelor, will wish to attain an out-of-court and doubtlessly multimillion-pound settlement together with his accuser, or face having his personal life be put within the highlight in a blockbuster trial in 9 months.
Nonetheless, there have been options that Miss Roberts, who claims she was trafficked by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and compelled to have intercourse with Epstein and his associates whereas she was a minor underneath US legislation, will not be ready to simply accept a deal.
Witnesses together with Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice could possibly be requested to testify, Miss Roberts’s lawyer David Boies has claimed.
It’s probably the duke shall be requested to present proof underneath oath as a part of the invention course of in what is called a deposition. Nonetheless, he can’t be pressured to look in New York to defend himself because of the case being a civil go well with in a distinct authorized jurisdiction.
Andrew may merely refuse to acknowledge its existence — however the court docket would then move a judgement in his absence, risking much more harm to his already-shattered popularity.
Final evening, the royal’s attorneys on either side of the Atlantic have been locked in disaster talks after their movement to dismiss the civil lawsuit introduced by Virginia Roberts was ‘denied in all respects’, which means the case is now heading in direction of an unedifying trial this autumn.
The duke’s crew now have a stark selection, authorized specialists stated. They’ll both take the danger to press forward and try and clear his identify by getting into entrance of a jury, which implies Andrew would face the humiliation of getting to present public testimony towards lurid allegations of rape and sexual assault on oath.
Or he may attempt to persuade Miss Roberts to simply accept a multi-million pound settlement as a way to keep away from additional damaging the popularity of the monarchy – however have the stain of the proceedings stay with him perpetually.
Nonetheless, her New York lawyer David Boies final evening indicated that his consumer was decided to go to trial, saying: ‘She needs to realize justice’, however added that whereas she is set to go to trial, ‘settlement is at all times a chance’.
The Duke of York was photographed together with his arm across the naked waist of then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts. Within the background, Ghislaine Maxwell. Roberts claims she was pressured to have intercourse with the royal thrice
99 out of 100 civil circumstances settle out of court docket in the USA.
Mr Boies added that his crew will search to ‘depose between ten to 12 individuals’, and admitted this might embody Fergie, Beatrice and Eugenie.
If he chooses to not settle, or if Ms Giuffre rejects any provides, Andrew faces a trial and being interviewed by her attorneys in a videotaped deposition in London that could possibly be performed in court docket, though the ninth in line to the throne can’t be pressured to present proof because of it being a civil go well with in a distinct authorized jurisdiction.
Moreover, he may merely ignore the case and let the court docket give a call in his absence, though this might be more likely to harm his popularity additional.
One former US federal prosecutor stated: ‘It is a very, very dangerous day for Prince Andrew.’
Mitchell Epner advised Sky Information: ‘There are solely dangerous choices in entrance of him and he has to determine which of those dangerous choices is his finest dangerous choice.’
The strain for Andrew to settle out of court docket and spare the Queen the ignominy of a sordid public trial was rising final evening as he was warned he was in ‘the final likelihood saloon with the towels over the faucets’.
Andrew’s £2,000-an-hour authorized crew have been final evening locked in talks amid the ‘greatest constitutional disaster in dwelling reminiscence’, and imagine that the important thing could possibly be his chalet in Verbier, based on The Solar.
There was hypothesis that the Queen could possibly be bankrolling the prince’s case, however specialists imagine it could be thought of a PR catastrophe if she paid his accuser to finish claims towards her second on.
Miss Roberts’s lawyer Mr Boies hinted {that a} deal out of court docket could possibly be reached, saying: ‘I feel Virginia is set to go to trial, however settlement is at all times a chance’.
Chatting with BBC Newsnight, he added: ‘There was no suggestion of settlement discussions at this level. Previous to the time that we introduced the case we reached out to Prince Andrew and to Prince Andrew’s attorneys and instructed mediation as a doable approach of avoiding litigation.
‘There was no real interest in that at the moment whether or not that has modified or not, I feel, we’ll have to attend and see. A purely monetary settlement shouldn’t be something that I feel that she is eager about.’
Miss Roberts alleges she was pressured to have intercourse with Andrew on three events in 2001, when she was 17, and he knew she was a trafficking sufferer.
She says she was provided as much as the prince and different rich and highly effective pals of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew strongly denies the claims.
Andrew will use the sale of his £18million Swiss chalet to attempt to repay Virginia Roberts Giuffre with not less than £10million of the proceeds, it was claimed as we speak.
The Duke of York has been urged to settle out of court docket ‘for the sake of his mom’, who celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this yr, after his devastating defeat in a New York court docket yesterday.
Royal biographer Phil Dampier advised LBC: ‘I feel the one approach out of that is for Prince Andrew to pay her off’.
MailOnline revealed this week that Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York, settled a £6.6 million debt with a French socialite, paving the best way for him to promote his beloved ski chalet to fund his alleged intercourse abuse case.
Isabelle de Rouvre, 74, offered her home, Chalet Helora, to her then-friends Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson in 2014 for £18million, can be paid for in instalments. However Ms de Rouvre claimed the Yorks did not make the ultimate instalment of £5m for the property within the unique Swiss ski resort of Verbier – however this week the Yorks stumped up the money, ending the authorized battle and clearing the best way for a sale.
With the chalet now available on the market, the ninth in line to the throne will use as much as £10million of the ultimate sale worth to settle with Ms Giuffre, based on The Solar, however with out admission of legal responsibility to her claims she was pressured to have intercourse with him thrice when she was 17.
Mark Stephens, an knowledgeable in constitutional legislation, has stated that Andrew might want to discover between £5million and £10million to supply Ms Giuffre and hope she spares him a trial.
He stated: ‘Decide Lewis Kaplan has thrown a reasoned judicial resolution like a bomb into the center and the guts of the royal household and threatens to impress constitutional disaster as a consequence’.
He stated the duke has ‘no good choices’, including: ‘Primarily, I feel he is both going to have to have interaction within the trial course of or he’ll should settle and that might be his least worst choice.’ He added: ‘There’s a must restrict the harm. Andrew, I believe shall be stripped of his royal titles. A settlement of 5 or ten million is an effective wager however Ms Giuffre might want her day in court docket.’
How Prince Andrew acquired into this mess.. and why EVERY choice he has is a nightmare
Decide Lewis A Kaplan’s resolution is a big blow for Andrew, who now faces having to testify in open court docket
What did the decide determine?
Decide Kaplan rejected a movement by Andrew’s lawyer to have Miss Roberts’s intercourse abuse lawsuit thrown out.
The duke’s crew unsuccessfully argued that Miss Roberts had waived her proper to pursue the duke by signing a confidential settlement with Epstein.
The settlement, made public earlier this month, detailed how Miss Roberts had acquired a $500,000 payout in 2009 and agreed to ‘launch, acquit, fulfill and perpetually discharged’ Epstein and ‘another particular person or entity who may have been included as a possible defendant’.
Andrew B Brettler, the duke’s lawyer, had argued his consumer was a ‘potential defendant’ as outlined by the settlement and so the case ‘needs to be dismissed’.
However in his resolution, Decide Kaplan stated the settlement ‘can’t be stated’ to learn Andrew. He confused that his ruling doesn’t specific any view as to the reality of Miss Roberts’s allegations.
What occurs subsequent?
Authorized specialists say he may attempt to attraction, however the decide’s ruling appeared so complete that his possibilities look bleak. And the case wouldn’t be paused whereas he tried it.
The main target is now on a sensational trial earlier than a New York jury beginning as early as September. Except Andrew promptly settles the case or refuses to take part, a technique of ‘discovery’ will start.
It will see either side demand solutions, paperwork and ‘depositions’ – wherein they search to interview witnesses underneath oath, together with Andrew and Miss Roberts.
Miss Roberts has already despatched the duke’s attorneys a procuring record of questions demanding proof of issues he has claimed, together with in his notorious 2019 Newsnight interview.
These embody asking to see medical proof he couldn’t sweat because of a ‘peculiar medical situation’ which he stated as he dismissed her claims that the pair had danced in a London nightclub. His attorneys have already stated there are not any paperwork accessible to handle this.
In the meantime, they’ll demand strict proof of every thing Miss Roberts is claiming.
What are the duke’s authorized choice?
The duke has no good choices, authorized and royal commentators all agreed yesterday. To keep away from the grotesque spectacle of the senior royal’s intercourse life being raked over in a Manhattan courtroom, he may both settle the case or ignore it.
He may comply with be interviewed however then ‘plead the fifth’, underneath America’s constitutional proper to keep away from incriminating himself.
If he refused to play any additional half within the case, he dangers being in ‘default’, with the decide ruling towards him in his absence, branding him a intercourse abuser and ordering him to pay compensation. Andrew may ignore that too, however would then spend the remainder of his life being pursued by bailiffs.
If he wished to settle, Miss Roberts must agree – and her worth is excessive, as she has made it clear that in addition to cash she would demand an apology and an admission of legal responsibility.
His choices are:
Interesting as we speak’s ruling: Andrew may file a movement of reconsideration to Decide Kaplan, asking him to rethink his ruling. Or he may go straight to the second circuit court docket of appeals, the place it could be heard by a panel of judges.
If in addition they reject his movement, he may ask a second full second circuit to think about it. Another choice can be to go straight to the Supreme Court docket, which might then determine whether or not or to not hear the case.
Submitting for a dismissal: He may search to have the case dismissed by arguing that it can’t be heard in a US federal court docket as a result of each he and Miss Roberts — who’s an American citizen however lives in Australia — are primarily based overseas.
Settlement: Most American court docket circumstances finish in a monetary settlement agreed out of court docket earlier than the case reaches trial. She may search to extract an apology or an admission of wrongdoing as a part of the settlement, however Andrew has at all times strenuously denied the allegations.
Default: Andrew ignores the court docket summons, which means the court docket will rule in his absence.
What are the possibilities of the duke in search of to settle?
Specialists have argued that Andrew is a ‘lifeless man strolling’ and can wish to strike a take care of Miss Roberts.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens stated Wednesday’s ruling that Andrew is to face a civil sexual assault trial has ‘thrown a bomb’ into the guts of the royal household and threatens to spark a constitutional disaster.
He advised the BBC a disaster of this scale was unprecedented for the royal household.
‘Prince Andrew has nowhere to go. He is successfully a lifeless man strolling so far as the royal household is anxious,’ he stated. ‘However the one factor he can do is to simply accept the duty, settle for the blame, settle for that he has to fall on his sword for the sake of the broader royal household.’
Insiders say the choice to settle ‘stays on the desk’.
Andrew’s crew are understood to acknowledge the ‘attritional affect’ the case is having on the Royal Household, significantly because the Queen is because of rejoice her Platinum Jubilee this June with the specter of a scandalous intercourse trial hanging over her.
‘Clearly, this can be a US case involving US attorneys and involving a US civil lawsuit,’ one supply stated. ‘In actuality, 99 per cent of US civil litigations are settled out of court docket. A settlement would at all times be an choice on the desk, as that is the place the overwhelming majority find yourself. There may be additionally the broader strain and attritional affect to think about.’
Sources with data of the case have beforehand advised the Mail that no discussions have taken place but about whether or not the Queen’s son may — or ought to — agree a settlement with out legal responsibility being admitted. However neither had it been dominated out as an choice, they stated.
Buckingham Palace has refused to remark, describing it as an ‘ongoing authorized matter’.
What soiled laundry could possibly be aired in court docket if a settlement shouldn’t be reached?
If a settlement shouldn’t be reached, then the duke’s personal life may successfully be put within the dock.
As a younger man, the ‘Playboy Prince’ was one of many world’s most eligible bachelors and earned himself the nickname ‘Randy Andy’ after being linked to a string of gorgeous ladies.
When a bachelor for a second time, Andrew once more made headlines, having been noticed cavorting with topless ladies on vacation in Thailand, and attending a ‘hookers and pimps’ social gathering with Robert Maxwell’s daughter Ghislaine within the US.
It’s doable that ought to the lawsuit attain court docket, attorneys may drudge up Andrew’s sexual historical past and query him about every thing from his sexual companions to the trivialities of his dealings with Epstein and with Maxwell, who has been convicted of intercourse trafficking.
Andrew additionally confronted being grilled over his capacity to sweat and his Pizza Specific alibi.
Throughout his ‘automotive crash’ BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, Andrew denied that he slept with Miss Roberts, saying one encounter in 2001 didn’t occur as he had spent the day together with his daughter Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Specific in Woking for a celebration.
The identical alleged sexual liaison, which Miss Roberts stated started with Andrew sweating closely as they danced at London nightclub Tramp, was later branded factually improper by the duke, who stated he had a medical situation on the time which meant he didn’t sweat.
Because of this, it’s doable that Andrew’s daughter Beatrice may testify in any US trial. It is usually doable that Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson — who herself has generated a number of the most humiliating royal scandals of recent instances — may give proof.
However a settlement would clearly do little to assist the 61-year-old prince clear his identify, and it’s unlikely to assist him obtain his long-held ambition of returning to public life in some kind.
Interviews underneath oath?
All sides has stated they’ll search for round a dozen depositions. These are video-recorded interviews underneath oath, with questions requested by the opposite facet’s attorneys.
Andrew’s attorneys will search to depose Miss Roberts and should search to talk to her boyfriend and pals from the time, in search of to show holes in her claims.
If Andrew gave a deposition, he’s more likely to be quizzed by Miss Roberts’s lawyer David Boies, who has stated he’ll come to England.
Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner defined: ‘There shall be depositions, a sworn interview going down in entrance of a court docket recorder – however not a decide – by the opposing counsel. Prince Andrew would probably give his first deposition within the UK however that will be underneath US oath.
‘He can be questioned by David Boies who’s – so far as most American attorneys are involved – with out peer and is the best deposition-taker in fashionable American jurisprudence. It is a very, very dangerous day for Prince Andrew.’
If the duke was ever discovered to have lied in a deposition underneath oath, he may face a legal cost for perjury.
May Andrew be pressured to look in court docket?
Nearly definitely not. Authorized specialists have stated that Andrew couldn’t be forcibly extradited because of it being a civil case.
Edward Grange, extradition knowledgeable and companion at Corker Binning, advised MailOnline: ‘Briefly, extradition can’t happen for so long as the case stays throughout the civil jurisdiction.
‘Prince Andrew would solely be at peril of extradition if he have been charged with a legal offence within the USA that carries a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or extra.
‘Even then, while an extradition request could possibly be made to the UK, little question cautious thought can be given as as to if such steps needs to be taken on condition that it could be a really daring transfer for prosecutors to take due to the undoubted diplomatic headache it may trigger for the 2 jurisdictions.’
Mr Grange added: ‘If he have been to be charged with a legal offence within the US and if the US have been to hunt his extradition, his British nationality wouldn’t end in a dismissal of the request as Britain extradites its personal residents.’
Submitting himself to a humiliating, forensic, public interrogation about his intercourse life in a New York courtroom is just unthinkable for the Queen’s second son.
And even when he did imagine that giving proof in particular person would assist him seize victory on this case – and judging by his efficiency underneath the Newsnight spotlights, it would not – simply by travelling to America he would place himself in peril of being tracked by the FBI, who’ve been wanting to talk to him for greater than two years about his relationship with Epstein.
A request to the British Authorities to facilitate a proper interview with Andrew, underneath the Mutual Authorized Help Treaty, is presently gathering mud in London. If the duke flew to America, he may simply concern the danger of being detained by the authorities and compelled to undergo FBI questioning.
May Meghan, Charles or Fergie be requested to testify?
Others who Miss Roberts’s facet may goal for a deposition embody the duke’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Princess Beatrice, after he made her journey to Pizza Specific his alibi in his Newsnight interview.
Spencer Kuvin, a Florida lawyer who has represented a number of Epstein victims, stated attorneys within the case may situation subpoenas to drive individuals to attend a deposition.
These could be enforced inside America and if somebody refuses, ‘a US Marshal brings them in’. However these exterior of the US may doubtlessly merely ignore the request.
Mr Kuvin stated: ‘You will see a whole lot of airplane journey [of potential witnesses trying] to get out of the US within the coming weeks.’
The decide within the case has ordered a good timeline, naming July 14 because the deadline for the invention and deposition phases to be accomplished, to present either side time to arrange for the explosive trial itself.
If Andrew loses the civil case may he face a legal go well with?
Defence lawyer Julie Rendelman performed down the prospect of any legal prices being filed over Andrew’s case.
She advised The Guardian: ‘I imagine that [Maxwell] is the ultimate piece by way of legal prices involving Epstein. I am fairly assured prosecutors spent this time evaluating every bit of proof to see if there’s the rest.
‘I feel they realised the strongest case is Ghislaine, and that is what they went for.’
What is the case towards Andrew?
Miss Roberts launched her damages declare towards Prince Andrew in August final yr. She alleges she was recruited into a world little one intercourse ring aged 16 by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein killed himself in 2019, whereas his British socialite girlfriend was convicted of kid intercourse trafficking at a sensational trial in New York final month.
Miss Roberts says Epstein and Maxwell started flying her across the nation and overseas on his personal jets and that she was required to have intercourse with Epstein’s ‘grownup male friends, together with royalty’.
She claims she was pressured to have intercourse with Andrew on three events in 2001, as soon as in London, in New York and on Epstein’s personal Caribbean island.
Backing up her claims are flight logs – exhibiting she and Andrew have been in the identical locations on the instances she alleges she was attacked.
And at Maxwell’s trial, Miss Roberts was indirectly concerned however the jury believed she had been a intercourse trafficking sufferer.
What is the duke defence?
Andrew’s attorneys will spotlight discrepancies in Miss Roberts’s claims and the way her story has modified a number of instances over time. Particulars of dates, locations and folks have various, which is able to all be seized upon as proof that she can’t be believed.
And the duke’s attorneys say she didn’t even accuse Andrew of getting intercourse along with her till 2014, seven years after she first made her complaints towards Epstein.
On her personal account, Miss Roberts was over the age of consent when she claims she met Andrew, and the duke’s attorneys say that as a result of she was 17, she should allege that she was both bodily compelled or threatened not directly, and she or he has failed to take action.
Additionally they allege she rose up inside Epstein’s intercourse trafficking operation, suggesting that as an grownup she was nicely paid when she herself started recruiting different youngsters.
Andrew’s makes an attempt to keep away from the case
Andrew vehemently denies all Miss Roberts’s claims, and advised Newsnight he didn’t even bear in mind assembly her, regardless of the infamous {photograph} of the pair which his pals have instructed was faux.
When she launched her authorized motion, the duke was accused of attempting to ‘dodge, duck, run and conceal’ in his mom’s palaces to keep away from being served along with her authorized papers.
When this failed, he got here out preventing, together with his attorneys branding his accuser a ‘money-hungry intercourse kitten’ who had ‘initiated this baseless lawsuit towards Prince Andrew to realize one other payday’.