The woman who has accused the Duke of York of sexual assault will be interviewed under oath within weeks as part of her civil claim against him.
Virginia Giuffre is suing Andrew for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein Andrew’s friend, to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law. Andrew has strenuously denied all allegations.
It is understood the agreement for Ms Giuffre to be questioned by the duke’s lawyers, Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner, has now been struck and an exact date has been confirmed in April.
Andrew will also give evidence under oath on March 10 in London, in what has been described as a neutral location.
The duke’s “deposition” will be conducted by Ms Giuffre’s lawyers, David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, and is reportedly expected to last two days.
Andrew is alleged to have sexually abused Ms Giuffre at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home, during a visit to Epstein’s private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at the financier’s Manhattan mansion – all in the early 2000s.
Last month, court documents revealed that US Judge Lewis A Kaplan had written letters to the Senior Master of the Queen’s Bench Division in the UK to request assistance in acquiring evidence for the civil claim filed by Ms Giuffre.
The judge asked for the royal’s former assistant, Robert Olney, to be quizzed on topics such as Andrew’s communications with Maxwell, Epstein and Ms Giuffre, and his travel to Epstein’s homes.
In a separate letter to the High Court Judge Kaplan also requested testimony from Shukri Walker, a witness who says she saw Prince Andrew with a ‘young girl’, on questions about the alleged presence of the duke and Ms Giuffre at London’s Tramp nightclub in March 2001 and any interactions the pair had.
The civil sex assault trial in the US is scheduled to take place between September and December.
The parties will need to confirm by 28 July whether they wish to proceed to trial.
