ROYALSVirginia Giuffre's Lawyer Says Meghan Markle May Be Called To Give Deposition In Prince Andrew Civil Suit
A fellow royal may be called to give a disposition in a civil suit against Prince Andrew.
As previously reported by OK!, Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit in New York District federal court in August against the Duke of York, who stepped away from his royal duties in 2019. Andrew's alleged victim claimed she was forced to have sex with the 61-year-old on three occasions in London, New York and on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
Virginia's attorney, David Boies, told the Daily Beast he could seek to depose Meghan Markle. According to the attorney, the Duchess of Sussex is "somebody we can count on to tell the truth."
David explained the 40-year-old is a U.S. resident, "so we have jurisdiction over her." He added that Meghan had been a close associate of Andrew's for a period of time, it was reported.
According to David, Meghan is in a "position to perhaps have seen what he did, and perhaps if not to have seen what he did to have heard people talk about it. Because of her past association with him, she may very well have important knowledge, and will certainly have some knowledge," per the outlet.
The lawyer reportedly stressed that Meghan is one of the people being considered, and that a decision has not been made yet.
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"We wouldn’t take a lot of those depositions," David reportedly explained of those in Andrew's inner circle. "It would just be to see whether there are people close to [Andrew] who have relevant knowledge." He said that because they can only take a certain amount of depositions, they would not depose both Prince Harry and his wife.
He also revealed there are no plans to depose Andrew's mother, Queen Elizabeth II. "We would likely take one or two depositions of people close to Andrew who would have knowledge of his actions," David said, per the outlet. "That might include his ex-wife [Sarah Ferguson]. It could possibly be his brother.”
According to the Daily Mail, Andrew's legal team wants the suit to be dismissed. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will hear arguments on January 4.
Andrew has denied the allegations lodged against him.
"Virginia Giuffre may well be a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and nothing can excuse, nor fully capture, the abhorrence and gravity of Epstein’s monstrous behaviour against Giuffre, if so," Andrew's legal team wrote in a statement in October. "However, and without diminishing the harm suffered as a result of Epstein’s alleged misconduct, Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre. He unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him."
