THE lawyer for Prince Andrew’s sex-abuse accuser is set to question him in the UK for two “uncomfortable” days – but will reportedly spare the other Royals.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre has alleged she was forced to have sex with Duke of York three times when she was 17 – and her lawyer David Boies is due to fly to London later this year to take a legal deposition from him.
The renowned attorney, 80, has said he will not require evidence from Andrew‘s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, his daughters or the Queen, however.
“I’m going to try to get him to understand that this is not going to be combative”’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
“Obviously, I’m going to ask him a lot of questions.
“And although some of the questions may be uncomfortable, I’m not going to be aggressive or in any way offensive to him. I’m going to be respectful.”
He expects his visit to last “a day or two” and, should the case go to court, Mr Boies said he “doesn’t think we would need” other members of the royal family to testify.
Mr Boies says he tried to avoid litigation and is confused by the duke’s claims he has no recollection of ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
“He could have said, ‘I didn’t know she was underage’. He could have said, ‘This was an entirely consensual affair’,” he said.
“There are a number of things he could have said that would have been hard to attack. But this is incomprehensible.”
It comes after fresh court documents from New York show the royal denies all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint”.
It’s the first time Andrew, 62, who has been stripped of his royal titles by the Queen, has publicly vowed to fight the case in court.
The Duke will also no longer be able to use ‘His Royal Highness’ – and will face his US lawsuit as a “private citizen” meaning he can’t hide behind royal privileges.
Ms Giuffre, 38, has accused the Duke of forcing her to sleep with him more than 20 years ago at the home of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The mum-of-three alleged in court documents that she was procured by Maxwell, 57, the daughter of disgraced tycoon Robert Maxwell, as a teenage “sex slave” for Epstein.
ACCUSER DEAL
In an 11 page document, lawyers for Andrew set out the duke’s response to Ms Giuffre’s allegations.
It says he denies the allegation that he sexually abused Ms Giuffre when she was under 18 years of age.
Andrew filed a point by point rebuttal of Ms Giuffre’s abuse allegations five months after she served the writ.
Meanwhile, Andrew faces a £14million payout after his sex-abuse accuser’s lawyer signalled she would reach a settlement if he admitted the claims against him.
The monster bill is far less than the duke would face if he lost a jury trial.
It was mooted as Virginia Giuffre’s veteran lawyer David Boies suggested for the first time she would accept a payout.
Meanwhile, it’s reported under-pressure Andrew shouted at a female gardener over wrongly-cut trees – just days after he was served with his sex case writ.
The Duke left the flunkey “shaken and upset” in Windsor – with an insider saying: “He was over the top.”
