Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Prince Andrew makes ‘unprecedented’ request for evidence in sex abuse case to be kept secret

Prince Andrew makes ‘unprecedented’ request for evidence in sex abuse case to be kept secret

British witnesses including the Duchess of York and the Prince of Wales could be called to testify in the trial

The Duke of York has made an “unprecedented” request for all witness testimony taken in his sexual abuse case to be kept secret, it has emerged.

He wants depositions, including his own, to remain under seal, even if neither party declares the evidence confidential.

Lawyers for the Duke’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, said there was “no logic or authority” for such a provision.

The revelation was made in a letter from Sigrid McCawley, for Ms Giuffre, to Andrew Brettler, the Duke’s lead counsel, dated December 24. It was lodged with the court on Tuesday as part of a fresh bid to get the civil case thrown out.

Mr Brettler has asked a judge to halt proceedings, claiming that Ms Giuffre was not a US resident and did not live in Colorado, as her lawsuit suggested.

Instead, he said she lived with her husband and three children in Perth, Australia, and was therefore unable to make the claim under federal court law.

Ms Giuffre, now 38, has alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions in 2001, when she was 17. She is seeking unspecified damages.

Both sides have indicated that they plan up to 12 depositions. Ms Giuffre’s legal team has indicated that at least two of theirs will involve British witnesses, suggesting that they could include the Duke’s former wife, the Duchess of York, and even the Prince of Wales.

Before challenging the court’s jurisdiction, the Duke had been due to send proposed dates and locations for his own deposition by Monday, December 27.

He had already asked for a three-week extension to respond to discovery requests “in light of the holidays and Covid.”

Ms McCawley expressed frustration with the latest attempt to delay proceedings on an issue that could have been raised sooner.

She said they had asked three times for the Duke to select a date for his own deposition yet he had never responded.

Ms McCawley also noted that as part of the discovery process, the Duke’s lawyers had already asked for proof that Ms Giuffre was a citizen of Colorado and that they were due to respond with the relevant documents by January 14, as previously agreed.

She referred to a draft protective order, drawn up at the Duke’s request, which would prevent the disclosure of certain information.


Too late to ask court for confidentiality order

But she added: “The main substantive disagreement in the parties’ drafts is your inclusion of an unprecedented paragraph, which would allow you to keep deposition materials sealed from the public even if neither party designates the underlying testimony as confidential.”

She added that because there was “no logic or authority for such a provision” and because it was deemed too late to ask the court for a confidentiality order, they would raise the issue in court next Tuesday, when judge Lewis Kaplan hears arguments on the Duke’s motion to have the case dismissed.

Ms McCawley told Mr Brettler that they “will be able to establish” that the New York federal court had jurisdiction.

But she said that even if not, Ms Giuffre “would simply refile her claims” in New York state court, warning: “The parties in this action will need to resolve this dispute one way or another.”

A source close to the Duke said: “Such a request or offer to keep things confidential is certainly not unprecedented, rather it would be considered standard practice in any high profile case. However, it seems like Ms Giuffre and her lawyers want to try this case in the media instead of a courtroom.”

If current proceedings are abandoned and the lawsuit is refiled, Ms Giuffre would have to start the entire legal process from scratch.

Her current claim was filed in August under New York's Child Victims Act (CVA), which lifted the statute of limitations in cases involving alleged sexual offenses against minors.

However, the CVA deadline expired just days later, meaning that she would have to find another means of filing a fresh lawsuit against the Duke.


Duke's business enterprise reports significant fall in assets

Prince Andrew’s flagship business enterprise has reported a significant drop in assets.

Accounts published on Wednesday show that Pitch@Palace, his Dragons Den-style initiative, has total assets of £726,324, down from £1,158,369 the previous year.

The business, which previously had 15 employees, now has a monthly average of three, including sole director Arthur Lancaster, an accountant who took over to oversee what is left of the company in an administrative role.

The initiative, which brokered deals between tech start-ups and wealthy investors, was thrown into disarray by the Duke's disastrous Newsnight interview in November 2019, after which its charitable arm was wound up as corporate sponsors withdrew support.

The global arm, a private limited company, continued however, albeit with all references to the Duke removed from its homepage.

What remained of the brand was moved out of its Buckingham Palace base to a nearby office space in London and now uses only Mr Lancaster’s office address.

The accounts reveal that at the end of last March Pitch@Palace had almost £648,000 in cash, down from almost £1.18 million the previous year.

An accompanying note suggests that despite the Duke’s shattered reputation, there remain plans to relaunch the initiative. It says its planned activities were wound down due to Covid and would resume when restrictions were lifted.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×