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Prince Andrew “cannot hide behind palace walls” amid sexual abuse allegations, lawyer says

Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew “cannot hide behind palace walls” amid sexual abuse allegations, lawyer says

The lawyer of the woman accusing Prince Andrew of sexual abuse has said he “cannot hide behind wealth and palace walls” and must respond to the allegations filed in a US court, the BBC reports.

David Boies, the lawyer of Virginia Giuffre, said Prince Andrew should allow a jury to decide what happened.

This comes after Ms Giuffre filed a civil case in New York alleging that the Duke sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old.

According to a spokesperson for Prince Andrew, there was “no comment” on the civil case.

He has consistently denied the allegations.

Mr Boies said Ms Giuffre had “tried every way she can to resolve this short of litigation”.

He said Ms Giuffre – who was also an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – now wants a judge and jury to hear the evidence.

Mr Boies said: “At this point litigation is the only way to establish once and for all what the truth is – and litigation is the only way to establish once and for all what Prince Andrew’s evidence actually is.

He said people “ignore the courts at your peril” and that “it would be very ill-advised for Prince Andrew to ignore judicial process”.

“If he does, it will be a default judgement against him that will be, in effect, enforced not only in the United States, but in virtually every civilised country in the world,” he said.

Mr Boies said Ms Giuffre intends to send a message to rich and powerful men that the alleged behaviour “is not acceptable and that you cannot hide behind wealth and power and palace walls”.

The lawyer said his client wished to be compensated for damage she said was done to her and donate money to a charitable foundation to help victims of sex trafficking.

When asked what figure he had in mind, he said that was for a jury to decide – but they would seek compensatory and punitive damages and he believed each would be “substantial”.

The civil proceedings taking place in New York will proceed even if the duke and his legal team do not engage. Prince Andrew does not face the prospect of an extradition hearing as this only applies to criminal charges and not civil cases.

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