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Prince Andrew Was Notified of Sex Abuse Suit at Royal Lodge, Filing Shows

Prince Andrew Was Notified of Sex Abuse Suit at Royal Lodge, Filing Shows

Prince Andrew was served with legal papers at his English home with the U.S. suit by a woman who claims she was recruited by Jeffrey Epstein as a teenager and “lent out” to powerful men, including the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, for sexual purposes.

The Duke of York was served with papers at the Royal Lodge, Windsor on the morning of Aug. 27, according to a witness statement filed in Manhattan federal court. An agent left the details of the suit at the gates of the luxury property with a member of the London Metropolitan Police Service, according to the filing. The agent didn’t hand the documents to Prince Andrew directly, but dropping off the papers with the officer on duty meets the requirements for service in England and Wales, according to the filing.

The agent attempted to deliver the papers the previous day but was denied access by police officers as they had been “instructed not to allow anyone attending for the purposes of serving court process onto the grounds of the property,” according to the statement. 

A spokeswoman for the Prince declined to comment. His lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment. He has 21 days from the date of service to respond to the suit or face a default judgment. Prince Andrew has previously denied having ever had sex with Giuffre.

Virginia Giuffre claimed in the suit filed in August that the British royal sexually abused her at Epstein’s home in New York, on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who is in jail awaiting trial on charges she helped Epstein traffic underage girls for sex.

According to Giuffre, Prince Andrew is liable for battery and for intentional infliction of emotional distress. “Prince Andrew committed sexual assault and battery upon plaintiff when she was 17 years old,” she claimed in the complaint.

The case is Giuffre v. Prince Andrew, 1:21-cv-06702, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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