Virginia Guiffre, a survivor of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring, says she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew and has sued him for damages. Prince Andrew has avoided being served with the lawsuit, however, a fact his lawyers were happy to establish in the U.S. courts. But this has only led to further embarassment for the disgraced royal, as it is standard procedure for the courts to step in and compel service and Her Majesty's High Court of Justice in England has promised to do so.
Reuters (paywall):
London's High Court said on Wednesday it would take steps if necessary to serve papers on Britain's Prince Andrew in a U.S. lawsuit brought by a woman who accuses him of sexually assaulting her two decades ago
London's High Court told Reuters it had accepted a request for service from Giuffre's lawyers, adding it would "take steps" to serve the suit unless Andrew and Giuffre's teams agree to arrange for the papers to be served. Giuffre's legal team said in documents filed in a New York court last week that they'd tried to serve Andrew multiple times and finally left the suit with an on-duty police officer posted at his royal residence in Windsor, England, in August.
He can't be expected to help his adversary, but something in the petty arrogance of literal royalty avoiding a process server reminds me of Andrew's disastrously self-implicating BBC interview about his involvement with Epstein and his contacts with Guiffre. How could be possibly think that any of these things are good moves?
Correction: High Court, not Supreme Court
