Prince Andrew has again been served with the sexual assault lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre’s lawyers have claimed.
He was finally served the lawsuit after his US lawyers received the relevent paperwork by FedEx delivery on Monday.
Prince Andrew now faces the prospect of a highly damaging court case after repeated failures to respond to the claim appeared to have backfired.
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Friends have reportedly urged the Duke to ditch his London-based legal team amid growing concern about its strategy. They say Andrew’s ‘wall of silence’ over the sexual case is increasingly damaging the monarchy.
Andrew will now have 21 days to respond to the claim or face a default judgment.
The Mirror reports: Attorney’s for Virginia Giuffre who has accused the Duke of York of rape in the first degree and sexual assault confirmed to a court in New York they had been formally sent yesterday.
In an email to the Prince’s American lawyer Andrew Brettler, Guiffre solicitors wrote: “Dear Mr Brettler, Pursuant to Judge Kaplan’s September 16, 2021, order granting Plaintiff’s motion for alternate service (attached), I am serving by email the Summons and Complaint in the above-captioned matter on you in your capacity as counsel for the Defendant, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.
“We are also sending the Summons and Complaint by FedEx to your office at 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2400, Los Angeles, California.”
Within court papers submitted yesterday, Giuffre’s lawyers also included several receipts proving delivery by FedEx.
Last week Cesar Sepulveda filed an affidavit in the Manhattan federal lawsuit brought by Giuffre confirming he had served the papers to Andrew at his Royal Lodge on August 27.
He detailed how he had been repeatedly rebuffed in previous attempts to hand over the documents in which Queen’s 61-year-old son is accused of first-degree rape tied to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring.
However, lawyers for Andrew’s said they had not been filed correctly seeing the UK courts step in to approve a way in which the Prince could be served.
Mr Brettler has described allegations of sexual assault filed in New York as “baseless, non-viable [and] potentially unlawful”.
The law suit specifies she was forced to have sexual intercourse with the prince against her will and lists offences including rape in the first degree
Last week he told a pre-trial conference call that a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and Epstein released the duke from “any and all liability”.
He also said the duke had not been properly served notice of proceedings.
Prince Andrew has consistently denied Ms Giuffre’s claims.
Mr Brettler – a Los Angeles-based lawyer promoted as a “media and entertainment litigation” specialist – requested a copy of the 2009 agreement, which is not public.
“There has been a settlement agreement that the plaintiff [Ms Giuffre] has entered into in a prior action that releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability,” he said.
Giuffre, now 38, was an accuser of Epstein, the billionaire convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019, and claims she was sexually assaulted by the prince at three locations, including New York.
