The Duke of York will face a civil trial in America over sexual abuse claims after a US judge dismissed his attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out.
Prince Andrew is being sued by Virginia Roberts Giuffre for rape after he allegedly sexually abused her when she was 17
Andrew denies all allegations against him
The civil trial is expected to be held between September and December this year.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the development, saying: “We would not comment on what is an ongoing legal matter”.
Ms Giuffre alleges that she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 on sex trafficking charges.
Lawyers for Andrew called for the civil lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing Ms Giuffre waived her right to sue him after signing a $500,000 dollar settlement agreement with Epstein in 2009.
In it, Ms Giuffre had agreed to “release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge” Epstein and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant”.
Read more: yahoo
