Prince Andrew will be “deposed” by lawyers for Virginia Giuffre and give evidence under oath as part of the ongoing civil sexual abuse claim against him.

In a lawsuit first filed in August in Manhattan’s federal court, Giuffre claims that after she was coerced into Andrew’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation, and that Epstein forced her on several occasions to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 and he was around 40.

The duke strenuously denies the allegations and his legal team maintain that he “never sexually abused or assaulted” Giuffre, previously claiming that he has “no recollection” of meeting her and that a photo of the two of them in what is believed to be Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home is doctored. He has never faced criminal charges.

Now, it has been announced that Giuffre’s lawyers, David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, will conduct the “deposition” in a neutral location in London over two days, beginning on 10 March. Giuffre herself is also due to be questioned by the duke’s lawyers, Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner, in April.

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

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