Editor’s Note: An earlier model of this story was initially printed in 2019.
London
CNN
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There was a time when Prince Andrew had all of it: A embellished struggle hero, a playboy prince, a global ambassador for the British model, residing the lifetime of privilege. But these days appear lengthy gone. Instead, the Duke of York – who is ninth in line to the British throne – is now being sued for alleged sexual abuse.
Federal court docket paperwork filed Monday reveal that a lawsuit was filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an alleged sufferer of sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre has beforehand mentioned publicly that she was pressured to carry out intercourse acts with Britain’s Prince Andrew, telling the BBC in 2019 that she was trafficked by Epstein and compelled to have intercourse together with his buddies, together with the Duke of York, when she was underage.
Andrew has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations. But his affiliation with Epstein has solid a darkish shadow over him.
Facing strain from the general public, the Prince stepped again from royal duties within the wake of a 2019 interview he gave the BBC through which he was extensively thought-about to have broken his personal credibility. He not often seems in public. When his elder daughter, Princess Beatrice, married final 12 months, he wasn’t proven in any of the 4 official images launched.
Buckingham Palace has beforehand denied Giuffre’s allegations in a 2019 assertion to CNN, saying “It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
On Tuesday, a consultant for the duke’s authorized staff declined to remark. Buckingham Palace additionally declined to remark.
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Prince Andrew is nonetheless concerned in tasks aimed toward boosting British enterprise.
Alex McCready, the top of Reputation & Privacy at Vardags, a legislation agency specializing in dealing with circumstances of high-profile shoppers, mentioned the Prince isn’t facing the chance of being extradited, as a result of the lawsuit is a civil matter.
“If he fails to cooperate he will face a default judgment, significant damages and a reputation further in tatters. Another option, often preferred in these high profile cases, is an out of court settlement,” she mentioned.
Gerhard Kemp, a legislation professor on the University of Derby within the UK, mentioned the criticism by Giuffre is unlikely to vary the duke’s scenario dramatically, because it doesn’t appear to incorporate substantial new data past what has already been alleged.
The ongoing prison case towards Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and former girlfriend of Epstein, might trigger a larger headache for the Prince, Kemp mentioned.
“The gamechanger will be if the criminal case against Maxwell is going to yield significant evidence implicating the Duke of York, which in turn may alter the nature of proceedings in the US from the current civil case to a possible criminal case against the Duke,” he instructed CNN in an e mail.
Maxwell has been charged with conspiracy and intercourse trafficking, conspiracy and attractive minors to journey to interact in unlawful intercourse acts, and the transportation of minors to interact in prison sexual exercise for allegedly grooming, recruiting and abusing underage ladies from 1994 to 1997. She has pleaded not responsible.
US authorities have beforehand accused Andrew of not cooperating with makes an attempt to interview him as a part of the investigation into the alleged intercourse trafficking ring Epstein and Maxwell are suspected of working.
Then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman mentioned in January 2020 that Andrew had not cooperated with makes an attempt to interview him about Epstein, regardless of saying he would. “To date Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation,” Berman mentioned on the time.
Federal prosecutors requested an interview in June 2020 with Prince Andrew as a part of its investigation into the alleged intercourse trafficking ring as soon as operated by Epstein, a supply instructed CNN on the time.
But there is little else they will do. Unless the Prince himself turns into a goal of prison investigation, their choices are restricted.
“In the absence of a formal criminal complaint in the US against the Duke of York, my expectation is that we will continue to see the status quo … requests by the US authorities for the duke/his legal team to provide voluntary co-operation and the duke/his legal team will continue to say they are willing to co-operate, an assertion that seems to be somewhat disputed by the US authorities,” Kemp mentioned.
Prince Andrew himself mentioned the allegations in a November 2019 BBC interview that sparked near-universal condemnation within the British press and on social media.
He instructed BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis he had seen nothing that struck him as suspicious when he was round Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on federal prices that he sexually abused underage ladies and ran a intercourse trafficking ring. Epstein had pleaded not responsible.
Andrew, whose royal title is His Royal Highness The Duke of York, is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and a brother of Prince Charles.
Originally second in line to the throne, he turned quantity three when Prince William was born, and has slipped decrease following subsequent royal births. He is now quantity 9 within the line of succession.
Being the “spare heir” is a notoriously difficult function to fill. Over the course of his lifetime, Andrew has seen his probabilities of acceding to the throne diminish – but he nonetheless faces all of the scrutiny and expectations that include being a royal.
Like different “spares,” notably the Queen’s sister, the late Princess Margaret, and extra just lately Prince Harry, Andrew was at instances seen because the “party royal.”
Peter Kemp/AP
Prince and and “Fergie” had been among the many hottest royals within the late 1980s.
His colourful previous is maybe finest illustrated by the variety of nicknames UK tabloids have provide you with for the prince through the years, from “Randy Andy” to “Airmiles Andy.”
British tabloids have typically referred to the duke because the Queen’s favourite youngster. The declare appears to be rooted in the truth that the Queen was capable of spend extra time with him and his youthful brother Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, throughout their early childhood in comparison with her two elder kids Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who had been born simply earlier than she ascended to the throne.
Unlike his older brother Charles, Andrew didn’t go to school. Instead, he joined the Royal Navy. A number of years later, he was crusing throughout the Atlantic on a mission to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina. He returned a hero – and a darling of the nation.
Enter Sarah Ferguson.
The prince and Ferguson, generally known as “Fergie,” had been the last word “It” couple of the late 1980s. Their wedding ceremony drew a TV viewers of lots of of thousands and thousands. Tens of 1000’s of individuals lined the streets on the day, an occasion the New York Times described as “Fergie fever.”
Ferguson was mentioned to deliver a breath of contemporary air to the royal household. But the honeymoon was quickly over. Andrew and Ferguson separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, following a variety of scandals. However, the 2 keep a shut relationship – a lot to the amusement of UK tabloids.
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Prince Andrew (left), pictured together with his brothers Charles and Edward at Sandringham in April 1969.
After leaving energetic navy service in 2001, the prince turned a “full-time royal,” carving out a function for himself as a champion of British enterprise. He turned the United Kingdom’s particular consultant for worldwide commerce and funding, touring the world promoting the British model.
That profession got here to an abrupt finish a few months after he was photographed with Epstein in Central Park in 2010. At that point Epstein was a registered intercourse offender who had served 13 months in jail on prostitution-related prices.
Andrew was one of many many high-profile, influential males Epstein had related to. The prince mentioned he met Epstein in 1999 and “saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year.” He additionally admitted to having stayed at “a number of his [Epstein’s] residences.”
Florida Southern District Court
{A photograph} showing to indicate Prince Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein’s accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre and, within the background, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The prince has at all times claimed he by no means suspected the sort of habits that Epstein was convicted, and once more later, accused of. But that declare is problematic given he related to Epstein even after his 2008 plea deal, through which he pleaded responsible to 2 state prostitution prices.
While Andrew insists he by no means witnessed or suspected the habits that led to Epstein’s arrest, he has admitted it was “a mistake and an error” to see the disgraced financier in 2010.