Once celebrated as a war hero, he is now threatened with civil lawsuit for the abuse of a minor. The Queen has also withdrawn her trust in her former favorite son Andrew. The monarch said he had to defend himself as a private citizen after it became clear that Andrew would not be able to avert Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s allegations.
The American claims she was repeatedly molested by Prince Andrew at the age of 17 – as a victim in the perfidious machinery of convicted criminals Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Prince Andrew was friends with both of them, he doesn’t deny it. Knowing Virginia Roberts Giuffre, on the other hand, is. “That didn’t happen,” Andrew said in a 2019 BBC interview about the allegations against him. And: “I have not met this woman.”
All attempts by his lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Roberts Giuffre have failed. New York Judge Lewis Kaplan has cleared the way for a trial. If Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Giuffre don’t settle out of court, it could happen in the fall of 2022.
Andrew’s attorneys want to question Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s husband
Plaintiffs and defense attorneys have now named the first witnesses who want to question them. On Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s side, that’s Andrews’ former assistant, Robert Olney, and a woman named Shukri Walker. She says she saw the prince at London’s Tramp nightclub in 2001, where Andrew is said to have been with Roberts Giuffre.
Prince Andrew’s legal team wants to interview Giuffre’s husband Robert and psychologist Judith Lightfoot, who the American went to after emigrating to Australia. The aim is apparently to question Giuffre’s credibility with testimonies and to cast doubt on her mental health. Andrew’s attorney, Melissa Lerner, told the court that Giuffre may be suffering from “false memories.” It’s the last straw Prince Andrew is now clutching at.