'Prince Andrew lawsuit is not going away', Virginia Giuffre's lawyer tells ITV News

ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger talks to Virginia Giuffre's lawyer about the Prince Andrew lawsuit

Virginia Giuffre's lawyer has told ITV News he believes the Duke of York will end up in court, after she filed a lawsuit on Monday suing Prince Andrew.

It is not the first time Ms Giuffre has made these claims but this time she is suing him directly for damages.

In the lawsuit, brought under the Child Victims Act, Ms Giuffre claims the prince abused her on multiple occasions.

David Boies, who is the lawyer for Ms Giuffre and many other victims of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring, said he has no doubt this case will come before a jury.

He said: "This case will come before jury, the jurisdiction of the federal courts in New York I think is unquestioned, the conduct took place in New York."

Mr Boies, who's also the chairman and managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, said: "This case is not going away. Virginia Giuffre is not going to go away, and I'm not going to go away.

"This case is going to go forward, whatever obstacles that they try to put in front of us, we will overcome, once this case goes to court."

A spokeswoman for Prince Andrew said "no comment" when asked about the claims which he has long denied.

'This case is not going away', says Virginia Giuffre's lawyer

Speaking to ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger, Mr Boies said: "Their ability to stonewall has ended. They can still delay, but they can't escape the inevitable. And the inevitable is a jury trial as to who's telling the truth here, what the facts are - and that is something that I have a lot of confidence is going to go forward."

He added: "A civil case is really the only avenue that she has to seek vindication, obviously there are criminal authorities who can do their own investigation but she can't control what they do or don't do. The only thing she can control is what she does.

"This lawsuit is an attempt to vindicate not only her interests but the interests of many young women who are sexually trafficked every day across the United States and across the world.

"The hope is that by bringing to account allegations of sexual abuse against rich and powerful people, it will send a message that kind of conduct is not to be tolerated and when charges like this are made, ultimately a judge or a jury will decide what the truth is."

Ms Giuffre's lawyer told ITV News he has no doubt this case will come before a jury.

He said: "This case will come before jury, the jurisdiction of the federal courts in New York I think is unquestioned, the conduct took place in New York."

When asked whether Ms Giuffre would keep the money from the lawsuit if she was awarded any damages, Mr Boies said: "Historically, when she recovered damages from, Jeffrey Epstein and from his estate, when she recovered damages from Ghislaine Maxwell - in each case she has donated a significant portion of those damages to a charitable foundation that she has established to try to help victims of sex trafficking.

"I would suspect that she would certainly consider doing that here as well."

Mr Boies also explains how the Duke of York cannot be extradited to the US because it is not a criminal case.

"It is true he cannot be extradited to the US, however he can be served with process in either one of two ways - one is by the Haig convention where he would be processed in the United Kingdom - and second by what is called the federal court system in the United States, substituted service by which if the court concludes that the defendant is trying to avoid service, the court can order any kind of service to process.

"I think it's fair to say Prince Andrew already has notice of this litigation."

The court will ultimately decide whether Prince Andrew has to show up for the civil case proceedings.

Ms Giuffre alleges she was trafficked to the duke and sexually abused by him.

On one occasion, she said the prince sexually abused her at Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London when Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew forced her to have sex with the prince.

On another occasion, Prince Andrew allegedly sexually abused Ms Giuffre in Epstein’s New York mansion.

Ms Giuffre said in an interview with BBC Panorama that she was left "horrified and ashamed" after an alleged sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001.

She claimed she danced with Andrew in Tramp nightclub, adding he was "the most hideous dancer I've ever seen in my life" and "his sweat was... raining basically everywhere".

During Prince Andrew's car crash interview in November 2019, he told BBC Newsnight he never had sex with Ms Giuffre, saying he can "absolutely and categorically" say "it never happened".

He said he had "no recollection" of ever meeting her and that there were “a number of things that are wrong" about Ms Giuffre’s account, which alleges the encounter occurred in 2001.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court, where she faces trial in November.

Epstein, 66, took his own life in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.