(London) Prince Andrew will give a sworn statement in March in London to the lawyers of a woman who accuses him of sexual assault when she was a minor, a source close to the son of Queen Elizabeth II said on Saturday. at AFP.
Posted at 10:41 a.m.
“We have agreed to voluntarily present the Duke of York for a deposition on March 10,” the source said.
The second son of Queen Elizabeth II, 61, is being sued in civil proceedings in New York for sexual assault by American Virginia Giuffre, 38, a victim of the late American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, in 2001 when she was 17, facts that he has always disputed. He asked to be tried in a civil trial.
“Despite repeated requests, Mr.me Giuffre has still not committed to a date or place for her deposition,” the source close to the Duke of York said.
This affair embarrasses the British monarchy as the 95-year-old queen prepares to pass the historic milestone of 70 years of reign on Sunday, before popular festivities in June.
According to Daily Telegraph Saturday, the meeting with lawyers David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, who will travel from the United States, will take place for “about two days” in a “neutral” place in the British capital.
The lawyers will then question two witnesses, the newspaper said: Shukri Walker, a woman claiming to have seen Prince Andrew in a London nightclub with a young girl at the time of the alleged attack; and Robert Olney, a former aide to the prince.
The lawyers of M.me Giuffre did not directly respond to requests from AFP for comment on Saturday.
In January, David Boies had said, in a statement sent to AFP, his “eagerness to confront Prince Andrew, his denials and his attempts to shift the blame to Mrs.me Giuffre during his testimony and during a trial”.
Prince Andrew has retired from public life since a calamitous BBC interview in 2019 in which he tried to defend himself. In January, he was stripped of his military titles and association patronages by the Queen.