Prince Andrew, Duke of York, leaves Crossrail headquarters at Canary Wharf on March 7, 2011 in London, England. Prince Andrew is under increasing pressure after a series of damaging revelations about him appeared, including criticism of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier.
Dan Kitwood | Getty Images
A new lawyer for Britain’s Prince Andrew said on Monday he would challenge a lawsuit against him by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s many accusers on grounds of jurisdiction and an argument that the lawsuit has not been legally served on the prince.
Los Angeles attorney Andrew Brettler stated his intent to present those arguments in a document filed hours before a hearing in New York court over the lawsuit filed last month by Virginia Giuffre.
No other lawyer had previously filed an appearance on behalf of Prince Andrew, let alone responded in a court filing Giuffre’s lawsuit.
Giuffre claims that the Duke of York sexually abused her two decades ago in New York, London and the US Virgin Islands as a minor, and in the clutches of Prince Epstein’s friend and the accused’s attorney. Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Giuffre “was regularly abused by Epstein and was lent by Epstein to other powerful men for sexual purposes,” his lawsuit alleges.
Giuffre’s lawsuit states that “she was also forced to have sex with the accused, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in [Epstein’s] and Maxwell ‘s direction. “
Prince Andreu has denied Giuffre’s accusations and claims that he has no memory of even having met her, despite the existence of a photograph that seems to show them smiling and standing one next to the another while Maxwell takes a wide view of the background.
Guiffre’s lawyers said last week that his Manhattan lawsuit was legally served on Prince Andrew on Aug. 27 by a trial server who left a copy of his claim with a police officer guarding a royal residence in England, where the prince had been lodged.
According to reports, Prince Andrew, who is the son of Queen Elizabeth, had been actively preventing her from wearing the dress.
Brettler, in his presentation to Manhattan court, wrote that he filed “this special appearance on behalf of Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in the above-named proceeding, in order to challenge the alleged trial service and challenge the jurisdiction “.
The presentation did not delve into these arguments.
Brettler did not immediately return any request for comment.
Epstein, a former friend of former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, died because of what has officially been declared a hanging suicide in 2019 while he was being held in Manhattan federal prison pending trial for child sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell is due to stand trial in federal Manhattan court in November on charges of recruiting underage girls to be abused by Epstein.
In this case he has not pleaded guilty. Maxwell is being held without bail in Brooklyn Jail.