Lawyer for Prince Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre says duke won’t attempt to reopen his sexual abuse case in bid to overturn out-of-court settlement because it could expose him to ‘criminal risk’
- Virginia Roberts’ lawyer said he does not think Prince Andrew will reopen case
- ‘If he comes back he’s going to be subject to exactly the same scrutiny,’ he said
The lawyer representing Prince Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre has said he does not think the duke will re-open the civil case because ‘he’s going to be subject to exactly the same scrutiny’.
The Duke of York, 62, paid a rumoured £10million settlement to Ms Roberts, now known as Giuffre, last year in a civil case brought against him in the US without accepting liability.
He has maintained his innocence but is now reportedly considering reopening the case in order to overturn the out-of-court settlement and clear his name.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on Talk TV, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies said he did not think Prince Andrew would re-open the case.
He said: ‘He knows that if he comes back he’s going to be subject to exactly the same scrutiny, exactly the same deposition, exactly the same trial that caused him to settle in the first place’.
David Boies (pictured), the lawyer representing Prince Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Roberts, now known as Giuffre, has called Ghislaine Maxwell a ‘very damaged person’
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, (left) pictured with Ms Giuffre (centre) and Ghislaine Maxwell (right)
When asked about the possibility of reopening the case, Mr Boies said: ‘All you have to do is ask. He can’t unless we let him.
‘Virginia would have to let him come back and re-open it, but if he wants to re-open it, he’s got my telephone number.’
Prince Andrew is accused of sexually abusing Ms Guiffre three times in 2001, when she was 17 years old, which in some US states is below the legal age of consent.
She launched legal action in August 2020. Last February the Duke agreed to an out-of-court settlement weeks before he was set to appear at a deposition, in which he would have been questioned under oath.
Mr Boies told Piers Morgan on Talk TV: ‘If he wants to re-open it, he’s got my telephone number.
The prince, pictured on a horse ride on February 20, has been allegedly plotting to overturn a settlement he paid to Ms Giuffre last year
Saying that a deposition would have been ‘difficult’ for Prince Andrew, Mr Boies added he thought the duke’s lawyers ‘recognised it would be a disaster for him to appear for a deposition’.
He said: ‘He would have been taking a terrible criminal risk to appear for a deposition where he’d have to answer these questions under oath.
‘And if he did not answer those questions truthfully under oath he would then expose himself to real criminal liability.
He added: ‘If you lie to an interviewer you may embarrass yourself, if you lie in a deposition you go to jail.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Boies said he had no clue why Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew spoke publicly as it ‘undercut their credibility’.
Ms Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies said he had no clue why Prince Andrew or Maxwell (pictured) spoke publicly as it ‘undercut their credibility’
‘One of the things that has been a mystery to me throughout this, is with Prince Andrew, with Ghislaine Maxwell is why they say the kinds of things they do publicly,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t help them, it just undercuts their credibility.
‘That interview that Prince Andrew gave, the interview that Ghislaine Maxwell gives from a jail sentence while her case was being appealed.
‘Why in the world would you want to further damage your credibility at that point in time?
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‘I think she’s a very troubled person in a very troubling situation.
‘I think she never thought that she would find herself in jail and it’s very hard to know why she says the kind of things she says now.
‘I think she’s under tremendous emotional pressure. She’s a very damaged person.
‘She’s done a lot of horrible things but it’s hard on a human level not to have certain empathy for the pain I’m sure she’s going through right now.’
Miss Roberts – who brought the lawsuit under her married name Virginia Giuffre – launched her legal action seeking unspecified damages for battery, including rape, and the infliction of emotional distress.
Despite vowing to fight the allegations and repeatedly protesting his innocence, the prince agreed to pay a huge sum to settle the case before it ever reached a jury.
Although the agreement contained no formal admission of liability from Andrew, or an apology, it said he now accepted Miss Roberts was a ‘victim of abuse’ and that he regretted his association with Epstein, the disgraced financier who trafficked countless young girls.
Prince Andrew is said to be looking at forging a new career in the US
It also said the prince accepted that Miss Roberts, now 38, had been subjected to ‘unfair public attacks’ and that he had never intended to ‘malign her character’.
Mr Boise’s interview about Ghislaine Maxwell came after he said he thought Andrew had avoided court because the photo of him with the then 17-year-old Ms Giuffre made him a less credible witness as he maintains that they never met.
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Andrew was forced to step away from royal duties in 2019 and is unlikely to take on a formal role at his brother’s coronation as a result of the scandal.
Mr Boies told Piers Morgan that the contested photograph of the two together ‘made it clear that he could not say he never met her’.
Mr Boies suggested that if a jury had decided that the prince’s claim that he had never met Ms Giuffre was not credible it would be difficult for them to believe they had not had sex.
He said: ‘You have her testimony and you have his complete denial. The question is, is he credible or not?’
When asked if he thought criminal charges would have been brought, the lawyer replied it was a ‘distinct possibility’.
‘I don’t want to say that [he would have been charged] because I think you’ve got to look at what all the evidence is. I haven’t seen enough evidence to know about criminal charges.’
Prince Andrew, who has always vehemently denied the allegations, has reportedly assembled an £8million war chest to fight the settlement that was agreed with Ms Giuffre last year to resolve a civil case.
The disgraced prince is understood to be plotting a comeback that will restore his tarnished reputation, including possible legal action against Ms Giuffre.
Prince Andrew has reportedly assembled an £8million war chest to fight the settlement that was agreed with Ms Giuffre last year
The Duke of York, 62, has been watching Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s progress across the US ‘very closely’ (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pictured in 2019)
He is also reputed to be searching for new staff to build up his team as he eyes a move to America.
The furore surrounding the case led to him being stripped of his honorary military titles and any return to public life seems improbable.
According to insiders the Duke of York has been watching Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s progress across the US ‘very closely’.
He was stripped of his royal titles and roles last year but insiders claim he is ‘less bothered’ about the situation than people believe.
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