PRINCE Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts will “accept a settlement if the Prince is held to account,” her lawyer has claimed.
US attorney David Boies has slammed “victim shaming” Duke after he demanded a trial by jury in his battle against sex abuse claims earlier this week.
Andrew responded to Ms Roberts in an 11-page document, denying all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint.”
And now Mr Boies who is leading the sexual abuse case has said it is not about the money, despite claims, the case is likely to be settled.
He told the Telegraph: “What’s important for Virginia is to vindicate herself and the other victims.
“Not to let someone escape responsibility, just because of their wealth and power. To hold Prince Andrew to account.
“But how that vindication is accomplished is still open [to discussion].”
The Duke’s legal reply does admit his links to billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The document, submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also sets out a series of defences “without assuming the burden of proof, and expressly denying any and all wrongdoing”.
This includes arguments that the claim should be dismissed because Ms Giuffre is a permanent resident of Australia and that by entering into the 2009 agreement with Jeffrey Epstein she “waived the claims now asserted in the complaint”.
Mr Boies added: “This was Maxwell’s playbook and it’s now Prince Andrew’s playbook and blanket denials coupled with attacks on the victim are simply not a very credible defence.
“Particularly in view of all the evidence we have against him. If we didn’t have the photographs, if we didn’t have other people identifying him, that would be one thing.
“But as things stand, denying and victim-shaming is not a plausible defence strategy.”
Ms Roberts, 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.
She alleged in court documents that she was procured by Maxwell, 57, as a teenage “sex slave” for Epstein.
Meanwhile, Andrew, who has already been stripped of his royal title as well as all his military honours, reportedly wants to turn to disgraced actor Kevin Spacey to try to clear his name.
The Duke wants to distance himself from convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, who was infamously pictured larking around in Buckingham Palace’s throne room with the shamed actor in 2002.
The VIP tour was organised by Andrew — but he wants Spacey to tell jurors it was he who invited pal Maxwell.
A man who served as a Royal protection officer at the Palace for six years has claimed Prince Andrew told stunned royal cops to “f*** off” after the Duke sparked a security scare outside the Queen’s bedroom at Buckingham Palace
Paul Rage also described the Duke as “rude” and “a bully”.
