Last week, Britain’s Prince Andrew fired his latest salvo in his litigation with Virginia Giuffre, demanding a jury trial in the sex-abuse lawsuit she filed against him. Giuffre, a victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring, sued the embattled royal in August.
Now lawyers for Andrew and Giuffre will soon question several witnesses under oath—including Shukri Walker, a British woman who says she saw Andrew and then-17-year-old Giuffre at a London nightclub—and Robert Olney, a former royal attendant to the Duke of York.
On Monday, new court filings revealed the Manhattan federal judge in the case has officially requested assistance from authorities in Australia to obtain testimony and documents from two more witnesses: Giuffre’s husband, Robert, and her psychologist Dr. Judith Lightfoot.
ADVERTISEMENT
The prince’s lawyer, Andrew Brettler, is seeking this testimony to bolster his defense that Giuffre “may suffer from false memories,” the court documents show. Andrew’s team alleges Giuffre’s “claims regarding her time with Epstein and the circumstances under which [Andrew] allegedly assaulted her have repeatedly changed over the years.”
Andrew’s team wants to question Lightfoot about topics including Giuffre’s “alleged childhood trauma and abuse” and “opinions regarding [Giuffre’s] alleged emotional and psychological harm and damages,” as well as “theory of false memories.”
Meanwhile, the 61-year-old royal wants to question Robert Giuffre, Virginia’s husband, about her relationship with Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell—whom Virginia accused for years of sending her to Andrew to be sexually abused. The defense named other subjects of inquiry, including the operations of her nonprofit, Victims Refuse Silence, her “alleged emotional and psychological harm and damages,” and her “role in recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein.”
Judge Lewis Kaplan also officially requested assistance from authorities in the U.K. for Walker and Olney’s testimonies, which are sought by Giuffre’s attorneys.
Giuffre’s lawsuit against the prince is expected to head to trial this fall.
The royal isn’t the only confidant of Epstein to use a “false memories” defense in face of sexual abuse accusations. At his friend Maxwell’s criminal trial in December, her lawyers called a “false memory” expert to testify that accusers’ memories of events can be corrupted over time or implanted by others.
As The Daily Beast reported last week, Andrew plans to argue one key piece of evidence—a photo showing Andrew gripping the teenage Giuffre's bare waist as Maxwell smiles in the background—is a fabrication.
According to Giuffre, Maxwell and Epstein forced her into sex acts with Andrew when she was under the age of 18 on at least three occasions: at Maxwell’s London townhome, at Epstein’s New York mansion, and at Epstein’s compound in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Giuffre “was compelled by express or implied threats by Epstein, Maxwell, and/or Prince Andrew to engage in sexual acts with Prince Andrew,” her civil complaint states, adding that she “feared death or physical injury” should she disobey them “due to their powerful connections, wealth, and authority.”
