Lawyers for Prince Andrew demanded a jury trial for their client in his sexual abuse lawsuit in New York. The Wednesday decision became another step in a long suit filed by Virginia Giuffre. She who accuses the Duke of York of sexually assaulting her on at least three separate occasions in the US and the UK when she was 17 years old.
The court documents filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York reads that “Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the Complaint”.
Giuffre said the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex abuse charges in 2019, arranged for the duke of York to sexually abuse her. The son of queen also denied the allegations in Wednesday’s court filing.
“Prince Andrew admits that he met Epstein in or around 1999. He denies the remaining allegations,” states the 11-page court document.
Son of the British monarch “denies that he ever engaged in sexual acts with Giuffre,” according to the documents. The filing also asks that “Giuffre’s complaint and the first and second causes of action pleaded therein be dismissed with prejudice.”
For the British royal family, the years has started not especially good, taking into account Prince Andrew’s case. Earlier this month, a federal judge in New York rejected a request by his lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit.
A day later, Queen Elizabeth II stripped Prince Andrew of his military titles and royal patronages. Commenting on the move of the monarch, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying the duke of York would defend the suit as a private citizen. Meantime, the NY court documents show that Ms Guiffre settled a similar case against Jeffrey Epstein 11 years ago for $500,000.
