Prince Andrew given date for TWO-DAY grilling as Virginia’s fearsome lawyer to probe ‘sweat’ & ‘Pizza Express’ claims
UNDER-fire Prince Andrew will face a two-day grilling at a "neutral" location when Virginia Giuffre's lawyers fly in from the US, it has been reported.
The exact day that the Duke of York will face his sex accuser's legal team has now been revealed, with the royal set to face embarrassing questions about his personal life on March 10.
Ms Giuffre is suing the prince in New York in a civil case for alleged sexual assault and battery.
She claims she was trafficked as a teenager to the Queen's favourite son through disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew will face a two-day grilling by Giuffre's lawyers on March 10 at a "neutral" location in London, reports.
The Duke has strenuously denied the claims made against him that he had sexual encounters with the then-17-year-old Giuffre at Epstein's homes in New York and the Caribbean, as well as at Maxwell's house in London when the infamous photo of him with his arm around the teenager was allegedly taken.
Andrew will be questioned by ace lawyers David Boies and Sigrid McCawley before they interview a woman who alleges she saw the prince with Ms Giuffre at London's Tramp nightclub in 2001, the same night as the notorious photo.
His former royal aide Robert Ashton Olney will also be questioned by Boies, 80, who has a fearsome reputation as the "greatest deposition-taker" in modern US justice.
Boies has said he looks forward to looking the Duke in the eye - and has previously been dubbed 'The Great Inquisitor'.
For his part, Andrew is reportedly being carefully prepared by his UK-based legal team over fears of a repeat of his car-crash 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis.
Most read in News
During the interview, the prince made a number of memorable claims, most notably, that he can't sweat due to an overdose of adrenaline that he had during the Falklands War, and that on the night he is alleged to have been with Giuffre in London, he was at Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey.
It has previously been reported that Andrew's deposition will involve detailed questioning on both of these points.
Last month, a request from Giuffre's lawyers asked for any proof of his trip to Pizza Express, as well as "all documents concerning your alleged medical condition of anhidrosis, hypohidrosis, or... your inability to sweat".
The Duke is set to be asked carefully about his movements around the time of the three alleged assaults in 2001.
In his filing with the US District Court in Manhattan, Andrew, 61, admitted meeting Epstein in or around 1999 but denied Giuffre's claim of sexual misconduct.
He is also facing difficult questions about his links to Maxwell, who last year was convicted of luring underage girls to be abused by Epstein.
We agreed to voluntarily produce the Duke for a deposition on March 10
Source close to Prince Andrew
Giuffre, 38, could be allowed to conduct her deposition via video feed due to travel difficulties as a result of the pandemic.
On Saturday, a source close to the prince complained that his alleged victim still hasn't confirmed any details of her own deposition.
"We agreed to voluntarily produce the Duke for a deposition on March 10," they told The Sun Online.
"Despite repeated requests, Ms Giuffre still hasn't committed to a date or location for her deposition."
Last week, Boies confirmed he wouldn't depose Andrew's daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, or the Queen.
Andrew's demand for a trial by jury has allegedly put him "on a collision course with the palace," a source claimed last month.
ANDREW'S INTERROGATORS
Andrew faces two US legal giants when he is questioned by accuser Virginia Giuffre's lawyers next month
- David Boies, 80, is regarded as one of the US' most fearsome deposition-taker, and has taken part in major cases including Al Gore's unsuccessful challenging of the 2000 presidential election, and his successful invalidating of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage.
- He also led the prosecution of Microsoft by the US government that briefly saw the computing giant split up.
- His services, which cost $2,000 an hour (£1,460), are highly sought-after, and he is seen as "peerless" in modern US justice, according to former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner.
- Sigrid McCawley has represented several of Epstein's victims, starting in 2015, and has filed over six different cases against Epstein, his estate, and co-conspirators.
- Her lawfirm, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP has a policy that all sex-trafficking cases they take up are done on a pro-bono (free) basis.
- She filed a case of defamation against Ghislaine Maxwell when she branded Giuffre a liar.
It came after Andrew learned he had been formally stripped of his royal titles and revealed he would have to face his US lawsuit as a "private citizen".
He had been expected to agree to an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre and was understood to pay £10m from the sale of his Swiss chalet to make this happen.
But a full civil trial with a jury could see Andrew cross-examined about his sex life, his links to Epstein and Maxwell, and asked exactly what he did to his accuser.
In his legal response to Giuffre's allegations, Andrew defiantly denied being close friends with Maxwell and doesn't admit to knowing whether Epstein was a registered sex offender when he visited his home in 2010.
He also claimed he doesn't know whether he invited Epstein to Beatrice's 18th birthday, after a photo of the paedo billionaire alongside Maxwell and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced from the 2006 event.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
With Andrew facing potentially ruinous legal costs, it was reported last week that the Duke could see bailiffs turning up at his £30m Royal Lodge home if he loses.
Lawyer Arick Fudali, who has worked closely with Epstein's victims, says Andrew faces having his assets seized if he tries to avoid paying.