Prince Andrew arrived at Balmoral Castle on Tuesday — a day after one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims filed a lawsuit against him claiming historic sexual abuse.
The Duke of York was sighted driving a Range Rover toward the Queen’s Scottish Highlands estate in the company of his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Virginia Giuffre, 38, filed a civil lawsuit against him in a New York court on Monday, alleging sexual abuse and demanding damages.
Prince Andrew, 61, is believed to be preparing to react publicly to the news.
Giuffre’s lawsuit alleges Prince Andrew sexually abused her
Giuffre’s lawsuit claims she was an underage person when Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly forced her to perform sex acts with Prince Andrew.
The lawsuit claims that the Duke of York sexually abused her at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, Maxwell’s London home, and on the late billionaire financer’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.
She claimed she was forced to have sexual relation’s with Andrew three times between 1999 and 2002, according to People.
“Prince Andrew committed sexual assault and battery upon Plaintiff when she was 17 years old,” the lawsuit stated, according to CNN.
Guiffre also claimed Andrew knew she was underage and that he knew she was being sex-trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell.
According to the lawsuit, Giuffre was afraid to disobey Epstein, Maxwell, and Andrew “due to their powerful connections, wealth, and authority.”
Prince Andrew denied Giuffre’s allegations
After Giuffre first publicly made the sex abuse allegations in 2019, Prince Andrew denied them during an interview with the BBC.
He claimed he had never met Giuffre, whose previous surname was Roberts, despite a widely circulated photo that appears to show him with the alleged victim.
“It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts,” Buckingham Palace said in a past statement. “Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
Following a backlash over his alleged relationship with Epstein, Prince Andrew announced he was stepping back from his royal duties.
Giuffre’s lawyer claimed Andrew’s lawyers ‘stonewalled’
Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, claimed that Giuffre brought the lawsuit after Andrew and his legal representatives “ignored” his client and “stonewalled” her.
“He can ignore me and he can ignore Virginia, but he can’t ignore judicial process,” Boies told Channel 4 News. “They just have totally stonewalled. They have refused to provide any explanation, they refuse to engage in any discussions, they refuse to provide any facts.”