In Friday's filings, Andrew's lawyers said Giuffre had already "purportedly received millions of dollars" from settling a 2015 defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, where according to court papers she had sought $50 million. 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. Giuffre, 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.
"Prince Andrew's attempt now to use the 2009 release as a get out of jail free card shows how desperate he is to dodge and duck the facts of what he did," Boies said.Įpstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
He also said the settlement agreement "on its face" applies "at most" to people involved in underlying litigation in Florida, thereby excluding the prince. "He unequivocally denies Giuffre's false allegations against him."ĭavid Boies, a lawyer for Giuffre, said in a statement that Andrew's bid to dismiss the lawsuit "fails to confront the serious allegations" it contained. "However, and without diminishing the harm suffered as a result of Epstein's alleged misconduct, Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre," they added. "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 behavior against Giuffre, if so," Andrew's lawyers wrote. He said that agreement covered "royalty," among others, and that Epstein had insisted it cover "any and all persons" who Giuffre might sue.