Prince Andrew's Upcoming Legal Proceedings Could Prove To Be Very Revealing
This article contains discussion of sexual assault.
Prince Andrew's legal situation became extremely real extremely fast. Named as a defendant in August 2021 in a civil case by Virginia Giuffre (per BBC News), the Duke of York is accused of sexually assaulting Giuffre while fully aware she was underage a the time. It didn't help public perception that Giuffre also claimed to be victim to the late and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Andrew was close friends. Then on January 12, ITV royal news editor Chris Ship broke the news on Twitter that "Prince Andrew WILL face a civil sex case trial," adding that U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Andrew's legal camp's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds of a technicality. "It now moves to the next stage," Ship shared.
With a trial spelling very bad PR for the British royal family, Queen Elizabeth officially stripped her son of all military titles and royal patronages on January 13. As a statement from Buckingham Palace read, per Variety, "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen." Andrew will even lose his birthright title of His Royal Highness (HRH), the outlet noted.
At the tail end of January, a new revelation is signifying that Andrew's trial will be anything but easy for the embattled royal.
Prince Andrew will face a deposition
Prince Andrew will have to answer for himself in his forthcoming sexual abuse trial — quite literally. The prince will likely spend up to two days in London being questioned by David Boies, a renowned American attorney who is representing Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre, the Daily Mail reported on January 29.
With Andrew's deposition set to take place later in 2022, Boies clarified to the Daily Telegraph that he wasn't looking to attack the Duke of York in any manner that was unfair. "I'm going to try to get him to understand that this is not going to be combative," Boies said (via the Daily Mail). "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."
While Andrew has repeatedly denied all allegations, he and his loved ones can take some measure of comfort in his family being spared from the hot seat. Boies has confirmed he will not involve Andrew's family, including the likes of ex-wife Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and Queen Elizabeth herself, in the line of questioning.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).