PRINCE Andrew’s own family could be called as witnesses in the rape lawsuit against him in a bid to blow apart the royal’s Pizza Express alibi.
The Queen’s second son, 61, will find out “pretty soon” if he has won his case to have the bombshell lawsuit by alleged victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre thrown out of court.
Ms Giuffre, now 38, claims she was forced to have sex with the prince three times between 1999 and 2002 — in London, New York and on Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
She alleges she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew by multimillionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his twisted lover Ghislaine Maxwell.
A key witness has claimed she saw Andrew dancing with Ms Giuffre at Tramp nightclub in London – hours before the royal allegedly had sex with the teen.
But the duke denied he was with Ms Giuffre at the club and claimed he had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking on the night.
Ms Giuffre has asked for evidence of his mysterious trip to the restaurant chain.
And legal experts said Andrew’s hopes of having the lawsuit dismissed were on the ropes last night after Judge Lewis Kaplan ripped apart his lawyers’ case.
Andrew’s lawyers had been seeking to persuade the court that Ms Giuffre had waived her right to sue him when she signed a £370,000 ($500,000) legal settlement with Epstein.
Yet Judge Kaplan appeared mostly dismissive of this argument.
If the case goes ahead, here are five witnesses – including members of Andrew’s own family – who could be called to give evidence.
Princess Beatrice
Royal expert Angela Levin said Princess Beatrice, Andrew’s daughter, could be called to court to give evidence.
Ms Levin told talkRADIO: “If the case goes ahead, one, it’s not going to be heard until the autumn and secondly, it will involve Beatrice being brought to court and all sorts of other family members.
“He said he was having a pizza and couldn’t have gone with Virginia to a nightclub, and you have to prove this and then have to get his own family there to support him.
“I think for a senior royal to rely on a technical couple of words in a court case looks absolutely appalling.”
She also said the judge is unlikely to throw the case out.
Ms Levin said: “It looks very doubtful, and if you think this civil case could be closed at any time, it’s easy for [lawyers] to say, ‘Ok, let’s work together between two lawyers and get rid of it’.
Meghan Markle
The Duchess of Sussex could also be called to give evidence in the case against Andrew.
David Boies, the lawyer representing Ms Giuffre, told the Daily Beast that Meghan Markle “is somebody we can count on to tell the truth”.
Mr Boies said there are three reasons she may be deposed: “One; she is in the U.S. so we have jurisdiction over her.”
He added: “Two; she is somebody who obviously, at least for a period of time, was a close associate of Prince Andrew and hence is in a position to perhaps have seen what he did, and perhaps if not to have seen what he did to have heard people talk about it.
“Because of her past association with him, she may very well have important knowledge, and will certainly have some knowledge.
“Three; she is somebody who we can count on to tell the truth. She checks all three boxes.”
But Mr Boies stressed no final decision had been made on who would be called, adding that Meghan was just “one of the people we are considering”.
Princess Eugenie
Mr Boies said he was prepared to subpoena both of Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to try to cast doubt on the duke’s Pizza Express alibi.
It comes as the sisters were spotted out and about this week in the swish Swiss ski resort of Verbier with their husbands Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
When asked about her mother, Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice told The Celeb Report: “She won’t be coming out today.”
Sarah Ferguson
Mr Boies said Sarah, Andrew’s ex-wife, could also be dragged into the case.
He told the Daily Beast: “We would likely take one or two depositions of people close to Andrew who would have knowledge of his actions.
“That might include his ex-wife. It could possibly be his brother.”
Mr Boies said he was hoping to depose between 10 and 12 people, including Sarah, but said he was unlikely to request to depose the Queen “out of respect”.
He said: “I don’t think, out of respect and deference, and her age, we would seek to depose the Queen. I don’t think she is going to have any knowledge that other people don’t have.
“I think that he is unlikely to have spoken as freely to his mother about some of this stuff as he might have to his contemporaries, or his ex-wife.”
It appears that the Duke of York has his family’s backing – with Sarah insisting she “completely stands by Andrew 100 per cent”.
Anonymous nightclub witness
The woman who claimed she saw Andrew dancing with Ms Giuffre at Tramp nightclub could be called to give evidence.
US lawyer Lisa Bloom – who represents several victims of Andrew’s paedo pal Epstein – said a woman from London approached her.
Ms Bloom previously told The Celeb Report: “She says that in 2001 she was at the Tramp nightclub and recalls seeing Prince Andrew.
“It was pointed out to her by a member of her group.
“The woman remembers it vividly. She had never seen a royal before or since. It was a very big moment for her — she stared at him.
“She says he was with Virginia — who looked very young and not happy — but Andrew was smiling and seemed to be very much enjoying himself on the dancefloor.”
The duke has denied he was with Ms Giuffre at the club – insisting to Newsnight he was at Pizza Express instead.
