The road to court for Prince Andrew has been a long and winding one.
After reports first broke that Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, accused
Andrew of sexual assault, he quickly went into hiding.
Before long, he had been stripped of his royal and military honors.
Now that Andrew is on his way to trial, the case's timeline is speeding up a little.
Most recently, Giuffre's lawyer announced that he intended to interview Andrew for as
long as two days.
Giuffre first accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault of a minor in April 2015.
Buckingham Palace starkly denied the allegations, but the proceedings moved forward anyway.
Ahead of his trial, Andrew will be examined by Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Boies said that the interview will be, in his words, "a little
uncomfortable."
But, while he has no problem putting the needle to Andrew, Boies has no plans to involve the
royal's wife or children in the examination.
An exact date has not been set for the examination, but it is expected to occur later this year.
Boies is a highly acclaimed prosecutor who is representing several of Jeffrey Epstein's
victims; he recently told The Daily Telegraph that he is planning to fly to Britain to conduct
a legal deposition, which he says will likely last a day or two.
Despite how uncomfortable the interview may be, though, Boies is planning on making it
as civil as possible.
He explained:
"I'm going to try to get him to understand that this is not going to be combative.
Obviously, I'm going to ask him a lot of questions.
And although some of the questions may be uncomfortable, I'm not going to be aggressive
or in any way offensive to him.
I'm going to be respectful."
This will come as little consolation to Prince Andrew, however.
He has previously petitioned to have the case dismissed altogether, but U.S. Federal Judge
Lewis Kaplan denied the request, putting Andrew on course for a potential trial as early as
this fall.
Boies spoke with NBC following the decision and shared his client's response.
He said:
"Ms. Giuffre is, of course, pleased that Prince Andrew's motion to avoid a trial has been
denied, and that the evidence will now be taken concerning her claims.
She looks forward to a judicial determination of the merits of those claims."
This whole case has implications that stretch far beyond Andrew's own fate.
Indeed, senior royals are reportedly very unhappy with Prince Andrew's decision to fight
his sex abuse case in court, particularly because it's likely to bring further shame
to the already troubled family.
Insiders recently told The Sun that various members of the monarchy would have rather
he settled outside of court.
Prince Charles and Prince William are reportedly among those putting pressure on Andrew to
get everything sorted as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Boies described Andrew's decision not to testify in person as a "devastating
tactical error."
Insiders noted that the prince is hoping to appear in court virtually, via video link
from his home in Windsor.
Unfortunately for Andrew and the royals, there are serious concerns that a lengthy deposition
could cast the disgraced prince in an even harsher light.
One insider argued:
"After the car crash of Newsnight no-one thinks a seven-hour deposition is a good idea.
If he were to appear in court it could be many times worse and senior royals were deeply
shocked when they heard that he was demanding a jury trial."
The infamous 2019 interview found Andrew arguing that he'd never met Giuffre, among many other
outlandish claims.
"I simply…
It was, it was, it was almost impossible for me to sweat."
And things may yet get even tougher for Prince Andrew.
The BBC reports that his former assistant could soon give a sworn statement as part
of the ongoing abuse case against him.
Lawyers for accuser Virginia Giuffre have requested testimony from Robert Olney, a former
equerry for the prince, leading to a formal appeal from the New York judge trying the
case.
According to Giuffre's legal team, Olney's name and contact details were in Jeffrey Epstein's
address book.
They're arguing that he likely has pertinent knowledge of the disgraced financier's close
relationship with Andrew.
In particular, the former assistant would have been aware of the various trips to and
from Epstein's properties where, Giuffre alleges, she was sexually assaulted by Andrew at the
age of 17.
If the request is accepted, Olney will be questioned on every communication relating
to Giuffre, which could challenge the prince's dubious claims that he's never met her.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan made the request to London's High Court, and it will now be up
to them to decide whether they wish to get involved in Andrew's legal battle.
A second request was made to obtain information from Shukri Walker, who claims she saw Andrew
at a London nightclub in 2001 with a young woman believed to be Giuffre.
Whatever the road may bring for Andrew, one thing is very much clear: things are going
to get a lot worse before they get any better.
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