On March 10, Prince Andrew will sit for his deposition in Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit. The deposition will probably take two days, and Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies is flying into London, where he will depose Andy on “neutral ground.” On March 29th, Andrew will attend his father’s memorial service “alongside the Queen,” in what will probably be his first public event since he was stripped of his patronages and his HRH style. And then a few weeks after that, Virginia will sit for her deposition.

The woman who has accused the Duke of York of sexual assault will be interviewed under oath within weeks as part of her civil claim against him. Virginia Giuffre is suing Andrew for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein Andrew’s friend, to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law. Andrew has strenuously denied all allegations.

It is understood the agreement for Ms Giuffre to be questioned by the duke’s lawyers, Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner, has now been struck and an exact date has been confirmed in April. Andrew will also give evidence under oath on March 10 in London, in what has been described as a neutral location.

The duke’s “deposition” will be conducted by Ms Giuffre’s lawyers, David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, and is reportedly expected to last two days. Andrew is alleged to have sexually abused Ms Giuffre at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home, during a visit to Epstein’s private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at the financier’s Manhattan mansion – all in the early 2000s.

Last month, court documents revealed that US Judge Lewis A Kaplan had written letters to the Senior Master of the Queen’s Bench Division in the UK to request assistance in acquiring evidence for the civil claim filed by Ms Giuffre. The judge asked for the royal’s former assistant, Robert Olney, to be quizzed on topics such as Andrew’s communications with Maxwell, Epstein and Ms Giuffre, and his travel to Epstein’s homes.

The civil sex assault trial in the US is scheduled to take place between September and December. The parties will need to confirm by 28 July whether they wish to proceed to trial.

[From The Independent]

I’m writing about this because Andrew scheduled his deposition before Virginia. Andrew and his lawyers wanted a f–king medal for it too. They were trying to act like Virginia was trying to avoid answering questions under oath, like she wasn’t the one who sued Andrew. While I think the Windsors should be very concerned about how Andrew will perform under pressure during the deposition, I’m actually worried about how Andrew’s lawyers will treat Virginia, and how they’ll smear her and mock her. Incidentally, the Queen’s birthday is April 21st. So there will be so many stories about how Virginia and Andrew are “ruining the Queen’s birthday” and “what does this mean for the Jubbly.” Also: I genuinely believe that after the depositions, there will likely be a move to reach a settlement.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.