Prince Andrew.Photo: STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty
Fergie, who has remained anamicable co-parent and friendto the prince since their divorce in 1996,recently told PEOPLEof Andrew, “Whatever challenges he has, I will stand firm to the co-parenters we are together. I believe he’s a kind, good man, and he’s been a fabulous father to [Princess BeatriceandPrincess Eugenie].”
Giuffre hasaccused the royalof forcing her to have sex with him three times between 1999 and 2002 — accusations Prince Andrew has said could not be true.
Prince Andrew; Virginia Roberts Giuffre.Alexander Koerner/Getty; Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
Prince Andrew.Alastair Grant/WPA Pool/Getty Images
Sigrid McCawley, managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner who is representing Giuffre, told PEOPLE on Monday that Giuffre’s case proves no one is above the law.
“The filing of this complaint proves that irrespective of power, privilege or even being a prince, no one is above the law in the United States and all perpetrators of abuse should be held accountable,” said McCawley.
In response to earlier reports of the impending lawsuit, Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies told the U.K.‘sMail on Sundaythat Queen Elizabeth’s son, 61, failed to respond to offers to settle her claims out of court.
Now that a civil action has been filed, Prince Andrew may be forced to be questioned under oath and turn over texts, emails and private letters related to the case.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew.Chris Jackson/Getty
In a2019 BBC interviewaddressing his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and Giuffre’s allegations, Andrew said, “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever. It just never happened.”
Speaking specifically about Giuffre’s claim that he danced with her at London’s exclusive Tramp nightclub before allegedly having sex in a mansion in the upmarket Belgravia neighborhood,Queen Elizabeth’s second son said, “No, that couldn’t have happened because the date that’s being suggested I was at home with the children.”
Andrew added, “I’d taken Beatrice to a Pizza Express in Woking for a party at I suppose sort of four or five in the afternoon. And then because the Duchess [Sarah Ferguson] was away, we have a simple rule in the family that when one is away the other one is there. I was on terminal leave at the time from the Royal Navy so, therefore, I was at home.”
When BBC Newsnight anchor Emily Maitlis raised the issue of a photograph showing the royal with his arm around Giuffre’s waist — thought to have been taken inside the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell on March 10, 2001, when Giuffre was 17 years old — the royal claimed he had no recollection of the encounter.
source: people.com
