Options for Prince Andrew 'risk huge reputational damage to the British monarchy'

The British royal family wants to avoid Prince Andrew's trial overshadowing the Queen’s jubilee year.

According to British journalist Richard Palmer, "There’s no doubt the Royal Family would like this to go away but there are no easy options for Andrew or the palace. His lawyers’ fairly standard response to Ms Giuffre’s legal claim leaves it open for Andrew to fight it out in open court, get the case halted, or settle."

He said, "But all of those options risk huge reputational damage to the British monarchy. Ms Giuffre has suggested she’d only settle if Andrew admitted wrongdoing but even without that, the risk is the public will think the Queen’s son did sleep with a sex trafficked teenager if he settles."

Palmer added, "There is also the matter of Andrew’s refusal to cooperate with FBI investigators seeking to interview him as a witness in a criminal investigation of course."

Andrew on Wednesday asked for a U.S. jury trial as he again denied Virginia Giuffre's accusations that he sexually abused her more than two decades ago when she was 17.

Giuffre, 38, sued the Duke of York last August, alleging he battered her while the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Andrew, 61, admitted to meeting Epstein in or around 1999, but denied Giuffre's claim that he "committed sexual assault and battery" upon her.

David Boies, a lawyer for Giuffre, said in a statement that Andrew was trying to "blame the victim."

"We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms. Giuffre for her own abuse," Boies said.

Andrew's ties to Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, have undermined his reputation with the public and standing in Britain's Royal Family.

Earlier this month, the family removed Andrew's military links and military patronages, and said the second son of Queen Elizabeth would no longer be known as "His Royal Highness."

Andrew's filing was an "answer," a common document in U.S. litigation in which defendants deny or say they lack enough information to comment on plaintiffs' substantive accusations.

The prince's lawyers had previously called Giuffre's lawsuit "baseless" and accused her of seeking another payday.

Giuffre received $500,000 in a 2009 civil settlement with Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has said a trial could begin between September and December 2022.

If Giuffre won at trial, Andrew could owe her damages. She has asked for an unspecified amount.