Andrew’s accuser seeking witness testimony from duke’s former assistant in sex abuse case
The Duke of York’s accuser in his civil sex case is seeking witness accounts from his former assistant and a woman who claims to have seen the royal in Tramp nightclub.
Virginia Giuffre is asking the UK courts to help with obtaining testimony after her lawsuit against Andrew took a major step forward this week when a judge threw out a motion by the duke’s lawyers to dismiss the case and ruled it can go to trial.
Ms Giuffre is requesting testimony from Andrew’s former equerry Robert Olney and a woman called Shukri Walker.
Documents submitted by Ms Giuffre’s legal team say that Mr Olney’s name appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s phone book under “Duke of York”.
They say this means it is likely Mr Olney has relevant information about Andrew’s travel to and from Epstein’s properties during the relevant period.
The documents say Ms Walker has stated publicly in the press that she was a witness to Andrew’s presence at Tramp during the relevant time period with a young woman who may have been Ms Giuffre.
The documents say: “Ms Walker has therefore stated herself that she is a potential witness, and would thus be relevant to this dispute because plaintiff contends that defendant abused her in London after visiting Tramp together, while defendant denies being at Tramp on the night in question or having ever met Plaintiff”.
The fallout from Andrew’s civil sex case continued on Friday as he faced calls to pay for his own security and lose his dukedom.
Criticism of Andrew is mounting after the Queen stripped him of his remaining patronages and honorary military roles as the monarchy distanced itself from the duke ahead of potentially damaging developments in his lawsuit.
The Prince of Wales did not respond when questioned about the sex scandal which has engulfed his brother, during a visit to the north east of Scotland to meet people who helped in the clear-up operation after Storm Arwen.
Charles was involved in the royal family discussions with the Queen and Duke of Cambridge that resulted in Andrew losing his military roles, patronages and dropping his HRH style.
But when he arrived at Haddo House and Country Park, the heir to the throne did not comment when a broadcaster from Sky said: “Your Royal Highness, can I ask you your view on your brother’s position, Prince Andrew? How do you view it?”
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Ms Virginia, reacting publicly to this week’s court ruling enabling her civil sex case against Andrew to proceed to trial, tweeted she has the opportunity to “expose the truth”, adding: “My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable”.
She is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend, convicted sex offender Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
The duke has strenuously denied all allegations.
Ms Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her against her will at Maxwell’s London home and at Epstein’s mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The duke is also alleged to have abused Ms Giuffre on another occasion during a visit to Epstein’s private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion.
One alibi provided by Andrew is that he was at a children’s party with Beatrice at in Pizza Express Woking during one of the nights in question.
ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship says the fact Ms Giuffre has only requested testimony from Mr Olney and Ms Walker indicates her legal team is therefore not planning to seek deposition from Prince Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie nor his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
A spokesperson for Andrew declined to comment on the newly released legal documents.
A source close to the duke has said: “This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.”