Prince Andrew has hired powerful Hollywood lawyer Andrew B Brettler to represent him in a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17 years old.
Prince Andrew was served with papers outlining allegations of sexual assault made by Viginia Giuffre who claims she was forced to have sex with him while she was underage.
Prince Andrew vehemently denies the charges of sexual abuse.
The duke, 61, is reportedly seeking to have the civil case alleging he sexually assaulted Ms Giuffre thrown out on the grounds that doing so would amount to accepting US jurisdiction in the case.
A pre-trial phone conference was due to take place in the Southern District of New York on Monday, where Prince Andrew was not expected to appear.
His lawyer were expected to argue that the legal papers were not properly served on him by Ms Giuffre’s representatives at his home in Windsor over the weekend.
Ms Giuffre – previously Roberts – alleges she was forced to have sex with the duke three times while she was being abused by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Brettler is a senior partner with Lavely & Singer and has represented several celebrities accused of sexual assault, including Armie Hammer and Danny Masterson of That 70s Show.
The Independent has approached Mr Brettler for comment.
The lawsuit claims that “Prince Andrew intentionally committed battery by sexually assaulting plaintiff when she was a minor.
“On multiple occasions Prince Andrew intentionally touched (Roberts) in an offensive and sexual manner without her consent.”
Prince Andrew is also being represented by Blackfords in the case.
In a leaked letter obtained byABC News, Blackfords lawyer Gary Bloxsome said that “[Giuffre’s lawyers] have made several public, indeed well-publicised, attempts at irregular service of these proceedings in this jurisdiction, in at least one case accompanied by a media representative.”
In the 6 September letter, he added: “These have included attempted personal service of our client at his home, the instruction of a private process server, and attempts to email the proceedings not only to this firm, but to barristers (who are not authorised to conduct litigation) who are known to have acted for the Duke.”
