Prince Andrew to challenge US court's jurisdiction in accuser's sexual assault and battery lawsuit

Britain’s Prince Andrew plans to challenge a US court’s jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit by a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting and battering her two decades ago, according to a Monday (Sept 13) court filing.

In the filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, a lawyer for Andrew said the prince also plans to contest that he was properly served with the lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, who has said she was also abused by the financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawyers for Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Andrew, 61, is one of the most prominent people linked to Epstein, who US prosecutors charged in July 2019 with sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

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Prince Andrew served with papers in US sex assault lawsuit by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre

Epstein, a registered sex offender, killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail on Aug 10, 2019.

Giuffre has accused Andrew of forcing her in 2001, when she was 17, to have sexual intercourse at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and Epstein’s long-time associate.

Giuffre also said Andrew abused her at Epstein’s mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and on a private island, Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew has denied Giuffre’s claims of sexual abuse.