Prince Andrew 'unequivocally' denies sex abuse

Britain's Prince Andrew has rejected Virginia Giuffre's accusations that he sexually abused her more than two decades ago when she was 17, and urged a U.S. judge to dismiss her civil lawsuit.

In filings with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday (October 30), the Duke of York called Giuffre's lawsuit "baseless" and an effort to "achieve another payday" from her accusations against the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

Andrew, who is Queen Elizabeth's second son, also said he was released from liability under a 2009 settlement agreement between Giuffre and Epstein, a registered sex offender.

Giuffre's lawyer said in a statement that Andrew's bid to dismiss the lawsuit, quote, "fails to confront the serious allegations" it contained.

He also said the prince was attempting to use the settlement agreement as a "get out of jail free card", which showed desperation to dodge the facts.

Giuffre, now 38, sued Andrew for unspecified damages in August, accusing him of forcing her to have sex at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate.

She also accused Andrew of abusing her at Epstein's mansion in Manhattan, and on one of Epstein's private islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Epstein killed himself at the age of 66 in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Andrew's lawyers wrote in Friday's filings that Giuffre may well be a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein, and nothing could excuse or capture the abhorrence and gravity of that, if so.

However, "Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre," they added, and he, quote, "unequivocally denies" Giuffre's false allegations against him.