Prince Andrew Denies Sexual Abuse Allegations; Demands A Jury Trial

For the first time Prince Andrew officially denied sexual abuse allegations, a legal filing Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York revealed. He also demanded a jury trial in the Virginia Giuffre's civil lawsuit.

The 11-page filing responded to the allegations in the Giuffre's lawsuit. She alleged that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including the Duke of York. She claimed that Andrew knew she was underage at the time, reported CNN. According to her, Andrew sexually abused her at Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his Manhattan mansion and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's house in London.

In his response Wednesday, Andrew repeatedly denied the abuse. His lawyers Andrew B. Brettler and Melissa Y. Lerner wrote that the the prince denied that he "was a co-conspirator of Epstein or that Epstein trafficked girls to him." He also said that he was not a "close friend" of Maxwell and denied that he became a "frequent guest" in Epstein's houses across the globe. On the matter of a photograph of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre, his lawyers said that they have don't have enough information to admit or deny its existence, reported BBC.

In the court filing, he admitted that he met Epstein in 1999. He also said that Epstein and Maxwell attended the prince's 40th birthday bash in the following year. He also admitted that he was photographed with Epstein in Central Park and stayed at Epstein's mansion in New York City in 2010.

The court filing puts forth 11 affirmative defenses, including one that states that Giuffre's alleged "causes of action are barred in whole or in part by her own wrongful conduct and the doctrine of unclean hands."

Her attorney David Boies said in a statement that they looked forward to confronting Andrew with "his denials and attempts to blame" Giuffre for her "own abuse at his deposition and at trial." He said that Andrew's answer continues his "approach of denying any knowledge or information concerning the claims against him."

The court filing comes two weeks after a federal judge in New York denied Andrew's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In August 2021, the woman, now 38, sued Andrew using New York's Child Victims Act (CVA) that allowed those abused to sue their alleged attackers, according to Mirror.

American lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents a number of Maxwell's and Epstein's accusers, called Andrew's demand for a trial a "PR move." She said that Giuffre had already asked for a jury trial. She said that Andrew's request was "meaningless" as it was the woman's constitutional right to have a jury trial if she asked for one.