Courtney Balcombe
Creativity Editor
clb6264@psu.edu

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains disturbing details of sexual assault and pedophilia as it will refer to incidents regarding Jeffery Epstein.

Britain’s Prince Andrew has been stripped of his military titles and charities, Buckingham Palace announced on January 13, a day after a judge ruled a sexual abuse civil lawsuit against the Queen’s son could proceed.

“With The Queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen,” the Palace said in a statement.

While Andrew will retain the Duke of York title and is still a member of the royal family, he will no longer represent the Queen, similar to Prince Harry and Megan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Since November 2019, Andrew has rarely made an appearance in the public eye, aside from the days following the death of his father, Prince Philip, in April 2021. He was even absent from publicly released photographs of his elder daughter Beatrice’s wedding in July 2020.

According to CNN London, it is an unprecedented situation for a senior British royal — the third child of Queen Elizabeth II — and sets up a dramatic series of legal proceedings that will attract attention around the world and could have major ramifications for Buckingham Palace.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claims pedophile Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew three times when she was just 17-years-old. She alleges that she was trafficked by the convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Epstein, and forced to perform sex acts with the royal – a claim that Andrew denies.

After the ruling was approved, Giuffre took to Twitter, saying she was “glad” the judge had ruled in her favor.

“I’m pleased with Judge Kaplan’s ruling yesterday that allows my case against Prince Andrew to go forward. I’m glad I will have the chance to continue to expose the truth & I am deeply grateful to my extraordinary legal team,” Giuffre tweeted. “Their determination helps me seek justice from those who hurt me and so many others. My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable.”

Giuffre ended her thread by saying, “I do not walk this path alone, but alongside countless other survivors of sexual abuse & trafficking.”

CNN London reported Giuffre brought her case under the Child Victims Act, a state law enacted in New York in 2019 which expanded the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases to give survivors more opportunities to seek justice. An attorney for Giuffre told CNN in August 2021 that filing the civil case was to show “all perpetrators of abuse should be held accountable.”

While Andrew denies these claims, CNN London reported on January 26 that he demanded a jury trial in an 11-page legal filing. His attorneys previously filed a motion to dismiss but that effort failed in early January.

Prince Andrew’s reputation has been tarnished due to his friendship with Epstein as well as his friendship with Epstein’s former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in December for her role in facilitating Epstein’s abuse.

In Giuffre’s claims, she says the assaults took place in London, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that Andrew was aware she was a minor at the time.

According to CNN London, Giuffre alleged that in 2001 Epstein brought her to London, where she was introduced to Prince Andrew and went dancing at a nightclub with Epstein, his then-girlfriend Maxwell, and Prince Andrew.

In 2019, Guiffre told BBC that she had been taken to the Tramp nightclub where, Giuffre alleged, Andrew asked her to dance and was “sweating all over me.”

Andrew, in 2019, responded by telling the BBC, “It didn’t happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”

During the same interview with BBC, it was reported that Andrew claimed he could not sweat, due to a rare medical condition, and that on the night he is alleged to have had sex with Giuffre, he was in fact taking his daughter to a party at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking, which is Southwest of London.

Due to this claim of not being able to sweat, The Rolling Stones reported at the end of December 2021, Giuffre and her lawyers have demanded the Duke of York hand over all documents related to his “alleged medical inability to sweat” and “anything that would support the alibis he gave.”

The Rolling Stones also reported that the disclosure of the medical document request came hours before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled against Prince Andrew in his request that all discovery in the case be halted pending a determination of Giuffre’s residency status. 

Andrew claims Giuffre lives full-time in Australia and is not entitled to sue him in federal court in New York. However, Judge Kaplan said the defense’s request for an expedited two-hour remote deposition of Giuffre is not warranted and discovery exchanges should proceed as previously scheduled until the issue of jurisdiction is decided.

When Guiffre had filed her claim in August 2021, her lawyers said the damage from the alleged incidents was “severe and lasting.” However, Andrew’s legal team asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, saying it violated the terms of a confidential settlement agreement Giuffre made with Epstein in 2009.

CNN London reports the 2009 settlement was unsealed on January 3; it shows that Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 to drop the case without any admission of liability or fault. Continuing that Giuffre agreed to “remise, release, acquit, satisfy and forever discharge” parties and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant.” The settlement does not explicitly name Andrew or any others.

According to CNN London, the counsel for Giuffre submitted two letters, on January 14, for a federal judge’s approval to be sent to the UK in her case against Andrew. According to Hague Convention rules, the requests, once approved in federal court in Manhattan, must be submitted for approval from the Senior Master of the Royal Courts of London.

CNN London continued that these letters request permission to depose two people. The first was a woman, Shuri Walker, who has said in media reports she saw Andrew at the Tramp Nightclub with a young girl in 2001. The other person to receive a letter will be Robert Olney, Andrew’s former assistant. The letters request the depositions be completed by April 29. CNN has reached out to an attorney for Walker and is seeking comment from Olney.

After both Walker and Olney receive and review the letters, Politico reports that it is possible the trial can happen anytime between September and December 2022.