PRINCE Andrew has ordered his legal team to cancel their Christmas plans so they can focus on his sexual assault case, royal sources have claimed.
The Duke of York has told the US team they must leave “no stone unturned” ahead of his hearing due to take place on January 4.
Andrew strongly denies Jeffrey Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s claims of abusing her three times when she was under 18.
And sources close to him now say the Duke is “totally consumed” by the legal battle and has been staying up late in the night to talk constantly with lawyers in California.
They told The Mirror: “The tension in the camp is palpable.
“No one is really sure what Andrew’s involvement is other than asking a lot of questions, but he spends his days and nights poring over documents.
“He is totally consumed by it, keeping most irregular working hours so he can be in contact with his team.
“He was particularly stressed a few days ago and was heard remonstrating with one of the team.
“The feeling was he was telling them to effectively cancel Christmas and get totally across all the eventualities of what could happen in the case so there are, as he put it, ‘no more surprises.”
They added: “It’s very much a last ditch attempt to get the case thrown out and if that doesn’t succeed he knows they are all potentially in it for the long haul.”
It comes as last week Robert’s lawyers claimed that Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview is evidence of his “guilt”.
The Duke of York sparked fury with a legal filing in October that branded Virginia a “money-hungry sex kitten” who was only suing him for “another pay day”.
David Boies, Virginia’s lawyer, then hit back in a court filing in New York opposing Andrew’s motion to dismiss.
He wrote: “During that interview, Prince Andrew said that he could not recall ever meeting Ms Giuffre, a denial so at odds with photographs and other evidence that it is itself indicative of guilt.”
Andrew famously claimed in the interview he was medically unable to perspire, a response to Virginia’s account of an alleged sweaty dance in London.
And he claimed a photo of him with his arm round Virginia – said to have been taken in Maxwell’s home – could have been doctored as he’d never met her.
The Celeb Report has approached Buckingham Palace for comment.
