Britain's Prince Andrew has been served with a sexual assault lawsuit after the relevant paperwork was delivered to his US lawyer, according to his accuser’s legal team.
Virginia Giuffre is seeking damages after alleging Andrew sexually assaulted her, a claim he vehemently denies.
Her lawyers said earlier this month the duke had officially been served with the papers, but his legal team disputed the claim.
The issue of whether or not Andrew has been notified about the case — known as service of proceedings — was contested during the first pre-trial hearing of the civil case last week in New York.
It was reported the judge in the case, US district judge Lewis Kaplan, had ruled Ms Giuffre’s legal team could attempt to deliver the papers to Andrew B Brettler, the duke’s Los Angeles-based lawyer.
The certificate of service has now been delivered via email and FedEx, according to court records.
The email was sent on September 17th while the physical papers were delivered on Monday, the legal document claims.
It was left with the front desk of Mr Brettler’s office in Los Angeles, according to the FedEx receipt.
The email sent to Mr Brettler stated: “Pursuant to Judge Kaplan’s September 16, 2021, order granting Plaintiff’s motion for alternate service (attached), I am serving by email the Summons and Complaint in the above-captioned matter on you in your capacity as counsel for the Defendant, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.”
The filing says papers were also sent “to the designated central authority of the United Kingdom on the court’s behalf”.
Ms Giuffre’s lawyers claimed on September 10th that they had served the legal papers on Andrew by leaving them with a Metropolitan Police officer who was on duty at the main gates of the The Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park, on August 27th at 9.30am.
Andrew’s legal team contested whether he has been officially notified about her claim for damages from the duke.
Ms Giuffre is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. She is seeking unspecified damages, but there is speculation the sum could be in the millions of dollars.
Andrew has denied all the allegations.
His eldest daughter Beatrice gave birth to her first child, a girl weighing 6lb 2oz, on Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement on Monday.
