Britain’s Prince Andrew to challenge US court jurisdiction in accuser’s lawsuit

Virginia Giuffre has accused Andrew of forcing her in 2001, when she was 17, to have unwanted sexual intercourse

New York | September 13, 2021 10:55 PM IST

2 min read

Prince Andrew has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations and attempted to get the lawsuit tossed. (Reuters/File)

Britain’s Prince Andrew plans to challenge a US court’s jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit by a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting and battering her two decades ago, according to a Monday court filing.

In the filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for Andrew said the prince also plans to contest that he was properly served with the lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, who has said she was also abused by the financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawyers for Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Andrew, 61, is one of the most prominent people linked to Epstein, who US prosecutors charged in July 2019 with sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

Epstein, a registered sex offender, killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail on August 10, 2019.

Giuffre has accused Andrew of forcing her in 2001, when she was 17, to have unwanted sexual intercourse at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and Epstein’s longtime associate.

Giuffre also said Andrew abused her at Epstein’s mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and on a private island, Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew has denied Giuffre’s claims of sexual abuse.

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