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virginia giuffre

Prince Andrew’s lawyers want to question husband and psychologist of his accuser

Meanwhile, lawyers for Virginia Giuffre are seeking witness testimony from the prince’s former assistant.

LAWYES FOR PRINCE Andrew want to question his accuser’s husband and her psychologist as part of his civil sex case.

Witness accounts are being sought from Virginia Giuffre’s partner Robert Giuffre and Dr Judith Lightfoot, according to court documents.

Both Robert Giuffre and Lightfoot are residents of Australia and would be requested to be examined under oath, either in person or by video-link.

The legal requests come after the news earlier this week that a judge had thrown out a motion by Andrew’s lawyers to dismiss the case, ruling it can go to trial.

In recently published documents, lawyers for Queen Elizabeth’s son argue that Giuffre “may suffer from false memories”, and state that Lightfoot should be examined on “theory of false memories” among other topics including matters discussed during their sessions and any prescriptions she wrote for Andrew’s accuser.

They also wish to be allowed to inspect documents including the doctor’s notes from all sessions with Giuffre.

Meanwhile, the lawyers want Robert Giuffre to be questioned on a range of areas including the circumstances under which he met his now wife around 2002 and the Giuffre household finances.

Lawyers want testimony to be obtained from the witnesses by 29 April this year “or as soon thereafter as is possible”.

The trial is scheduled to take place between September and December.

Andrew’s lawyers have requested that the US court issues letters to the Central Authority of Australia for their assistance in obtaining the testimony.

Witness accounts

The requests from the duke’s lawyers follow similar requests from Giuffre’s legal representatives.

Her team is seeking witness accounts from Andrew’s former equerry Robert Olney and a woman called Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen the royal in London’s Tramp nightclub.

Documents submitted by Giuffre’s legal team say that Olney’s name appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s phone book under “Duke of York”.

They say this means it is likely Olney has relevant information about Andrew’s travel to and from Epstein’s properties during the relevant period.

The documents say Walker has stated publicly in the press that she was a witness to Andrew’s presence at Tramp during the relevant time period with a young woman who may have been Giuffre.

“Ms Walker has therefore stated herself that she is a potential witness, and would thus be relevant to this dispute because plaintiff contends that defendant abused her in London after visiting Tramp together, while defendant denies being at Tramp on the night in question or having ever met Plaintiff,” the documents say.

Giuffre is suing Andrew in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend, convicted sex offender Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law.

The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.

Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her against her will at Maxwell’s London home and at Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

The duke is also alleged to have abused Giuffre on another occasion during a visit to Epstein’s private island, Little St James.

The fallout from Andrew’s civil sex case continued on Friday as he faced calls to pay for his own security and lose his dukedom.

Criticism of Andrew is mounting after the Queen stripped him of his remaining royal patronages and honorary military roles as the monarchy distanced itself from the duke ahead of potentially damaging developments in his lawsuit.

Prince Charles did not respond when questioned about the sex scandal which has engulfed his brother, during a visit to the north east of Scotland to meet people who helped in the clear-up operation after Storm Arwen.

Charles was involved in the royal family discussions with the Queen and Prince William that resulted in Andrew losing his military roles, patronages and dropping his HRH style.

But when he arrived at Haddo House and Country Park, the heir to the British throne did not comment when a broadcaster from Sky News said: “Your Royal Highness, can I ask you your view on your brother’s position, Prince Andrew? How do you view it?”

Giuffre, reacting publicly to this week’s court ruling enabling her civil sex case against Andrew to proceed to trial, tweeted she has the opportunity to “expose the truth”, adding: “My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable.”

A spokesperson for Andrew declined to comment on the newly released legal documents.

A source close to the duke has said: “This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.”