Prince Andrew No Way Out? Virginia Giuffre Team Given Power Move By High Court
Prince Andrew is almost at the end of the line.
On Wednesday, the UK's High Court has agreed to formally notify the Duke of York about his alleged victim Virginia Giuffre's sex assault claim.
According to Express, judges have accepted a request by Giuffre's legal team that they can formally and straightforwardly contact Prince Andrew about the legal proceedings initially launched in America, after first rejecting it and noting a technicality.
Because of this latest power move, Prince Andrew is now forced to answer the case in a US court formally and will have to put the scandal-clad royal under oath.
On Monday, the first pre-trial took place in New York when the royal's lawyer Andrew B. Brettler explained that their legal team has many concerns about the lawsuit and that they had previously entered into a settlement agreement that would nullify Giuffre's case.
Prince Andrew wasn't present at the pre-trial, but his team represented him in court and stated that he had not been officially informed about the civil case.
The Hague Service Convention is "a treaty that governs requests between countries for evidence in commercial in civil matters, Virginia Giuffre's legal team can request the High Court in the UK to formally inform Prince Andrew about the civil action," per the outlet.
When the issue was highlighted in the application, the High Court explained, "The lawyers acting for Ms. Giuffre have now provided further information to the High Court, and the High Court has accepted the request for service under the Hague Service Convention."
They further said, "The lawyers acting for Ms. Giuffre have now provided further information to the High Court, and the High Court has accepted the request for service under the Hague Service Convention."
Despite the case being formally filed, an important topic at the pre-trial was whether the Duke of York had been informed of the civil case.
In a telephone conference during the hearing, the royal's attorney said they were contesting the validity of service to date and went on to say that he hasn't been "properly served".
However, Giuffre's lawyer David Bowles revealed that the complaint had already been sent to Prince Andrew's "last known address." It was said to have been sent by royal mail.
Virginia Giuffre is suing Queen Elizabeth II's reportedly favorite son for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was only 17 years old.
She is currently seeking damages.
