Status: 09/11/2021 12:52 p.m.
The second eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II has been handed a complaint for sexual abuse. The plaintiff, who claims to have been abused by Prince Andrew when she was 17, is seeking compensation.
Britain’s Prince Andrew has received a lawsuit alleging the sexual abuse of a minor in the United States. According to the court files that have been accessible since Friday, a representative of the plaintiff, Virginia Giuffre, presented the documents to a police officer at the entrance to the Prince’s residence in Windsor, England, on August 27. Queen Elizabeth’s second son has 21 days from the date of delivery to respond.
The now 38-year-old Virginia Giuffre accuses the prince of having sexually abused her several times in 2001. She was 17 years old at the time and, according to her own account, was forced to have sex with Andrew by the late US businessman Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew abused her in the house of Epstein’s friend Ghislaine Maxwell in London. In addition to London, the sexual abuse would also have taken place in Epstein’s house in New York and on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
Giuffre filed the lawsuit in a civil court in New York on August 9, and a first hearing is scheduled for Monday. However, Andrew does not have to take part in this. Giuffre demands compensation from the 61-year-old prince. Should Andrew try to ignore the lawsuit, the court could take action against him. “Failure to respond will result in a default judgment on the claims made in the lawsuit,” wrote Giuffre’s attorneys. However, if the prince faces the process, it could bring him bad headlines for years.
Andrew denies allegations
The allegations against the second eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II have been in the room since 2019. He always denied the allegations and stated that he could not remember a meeting with Giuffre, but resigned from his royal duties after an unsuccessful TV interview in 2019. The former helicopter pilot and war veteran is divorced and has two children.
The multimillionaire Epstein is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women and incited them into prostitution for years. The well-connected investment banker, who had already been convicted of sex crimes, was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell after his new arrest in 2019; according to official information, he had committed suicide.
Epstein victim sues Prince Andrew for abuse
Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, 9/11/2021 12:39 p.m.