THE NEW YORK TIMES: As Queen Elizabeth II prepares to mark 70 years on the throne this year, a sexual abuse case in a Manhattan court involving her son could mean more turmoil for the royal family.
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II will mark 70 years on the throne in February, a milestone unmatched by any British sovereign and a chance to turn the page on three years of ceaseless turmoil in the royal family. But a sexual-abuse lawsuit unfolding in a Manhattan courtroom could yet spoil her celebration.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the queen’s second son, Prince Andrew, asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, in which she claims that Andrew, a friend of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raped her when she was 17.
It was the latest in a skein of legal maneuvers by the prince’s lawyers to defuse Ms. Giuffre’s case. While the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, did not immediately rule on the motion, leaving Andrew’s legal fate unsettled for now, the hearing dramatized the shadow that the 61-year-old prince still casts over his family.
If the judge allows the case to go forward, Andrew could face damaging testimony from Ms. Giuffre about his alleged abuse of her at Mr. Epstein’s residences in New York and in the Caribbean. That would plunge the House of Windsor back into scandal at the very moment it hopes to use the Platinum Jubilee to remind Britons of the queen’s extraordinary longevity and largely blemish-free record of service.
The 70-minute hearing gave a glimpse into the kinds of issues that could spill out in a prolonged trial. At one point, Prince Andrew’s lead lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, argued that Ms. Giuffre had not been specific in her allegations against him. Judge Kaplan replied that she claimed she had been subjected to “involuntary sexual intercourse” and asked what was not clear about that. » | Mark Landler | Tuesday, January 4, 2022
