Prince Andrew finally said in publicly filed court papers Friday that he will not challenge that he’s been sued by an alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim — after weeks of allegedly dodging the suit in a game of “hide and seek.”
In a joint stipulation submitted to Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan, lawyers for Andrew and accuser Virginia Giuffre said they spoke over the phone on Sept. 21 and agreed on a timeline for the suit to proceed.
“Oral argument on the Duke’s previously anticipated motion challenging service … will not be necessary,” the attorneys wrote in the letter filed Friday.
If the timeline is approved by Judge Kaplan, the Duke of York will have until Oct. 29 to respond to the allegations brought by Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with the prince after being groomed by multimillionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged madam, Ghisaline Maxwell.
Giuffre claims in the suit that she was forced to have sex with Andrew in London, New York and on Epstein’s private Carribbean island when she was 17 years old.
Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, wrote in the suit she “feared death or physical injury to herself” if she did not follow through with orders from Maxwell and Epstein.
Prior to Sept. 21, Boies had accused the royal of playing “hide and seek” behind palace walls while refusing to accept the suit.
“Ms. Giuffre believes she has already properly served Prince Andrew, and the Central Authority of the United Kingdom has accepted her request to serve him itself,” wrote Boies wrote in a Sept. 16 court filing.
“Service is not intended to be a game of a hide and seek behind palace walls,” he added.
Prince Andrew has long denied he abused Giuffre during his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell.