A LAWYER FOR the woman who has accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her has said she wants the matter to be “resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindicates the other victims”.
And the BBC reported David Boies, a lawyer representing Virginia Giuffre, also suggested his client would be unlikely to accept a purely financial settlement.
Boies told the broadcaster: “I think its very important to Virginia Giuffre that this matter be resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindicates the other victims. I don’t think she has a firm view as to exactly what a solution should be.”
It comes after the sexual assault trial was given the go-ahead by a US judge, and a legal expert said it threatened to set off a “constitutional crisis” which will engulf the British royal family.
Andrew now faces the prospect of Giuffre giving a detailed account in court of the allegation she was trafficked to have sex with Queen Elizabeth’s second son when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
Judge Lewis A Kaplan dismissed a motion by the duke’s lawyers to have the civil case thrown out after they argued Giuffre had waived her right to pursue the royal by signing a confidential settlement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In the conclusion of his written ruling, Judge Kaplan said: “For the foregoing reasons, defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects.
“Given the court’s limited task of ruling on this motion, nothing in this opinion or previously in these proceedings properly may be construed as indicating a view with respect to the truth of the charges or countercharges or as to the intention of the parties in entering into the 2009 Agreement.”
The judgment will be a huge blow for Andrew, and media lawyer Mark Stephens said it will prompt meetings of senior royals as they attempt to deal with the looming reputational damage to the monarchy during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.
Stephens told the BBC: “Judge Lewis Kaplan has thrown a reasoned judicial decision like a bomb into the middle and the heart of the royal family and threatens to provoke constitutional crisis as a consequence.”
He said the duke has “no good options”, adding: “Essentially, I think he’s either going to have to engage in the trial process or he’s going to have to settle and that may well be his least worst option.”
Andrew has three main options – ignoring the lawsuit, which is his right, engaging with the American legal system to defend himself against the allegations or attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre.
If he ignores the civil proceedings a default judgement will be made in favour of Giuffre.
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