Meghan Markle could be called to give a deposition as part of a civil suit against Prince Andrew being brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
David Boies, the lawyer representing Giuffre in her legal action, has told the Daily Beast that the Duchess of Sussex was someone who could be counted on ‘to tell the truth’ – one of three reasons he says she was a potential to be deposed.
Boies also told the outlet that Markle was a consideration because she lives in the US so is subject to the jurisdiction of the US courts.
He also said that she was being considered because she was ‘a close associate of Prince Andrew and hence is in a position to perhaps have seen what he did’.
He added: ‘Because of her past association with him, she may very well have important knowledge and will certainly have some knowledge.
‘She checks all three boxes,’ he added.
Boies emphasized that Markle is only ‘one of the people we are considering, we haven’t made a decision yet.’
Meghan Markle could be called to give a deposition in the civil case against Prince Andrew (pictured together in 2019) being brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Ms Giuffre, 38, has claimed she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times in 2001, when she was just 17. Prince Andrew vehemently denies all the allegations made against him.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan is set to hear arguments from the Duke’s legal team to dismiss the suit on January 4.
If the case makes it past this point, it will enter full discovery meaning both sides will have to give videotaped depositions.
Boies said his team could depose up to 12 third parties as part of this stage and that they had to be careful who they picked due to time constnts.
The Daily Beast reports that the Duke’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was also in consideration but would be a more difficult target for deposition due to the fact she lives in the UK.
Boies said ‘out of respect and deference’ and because of her age, there were no plans to depose the Queen.
Giuffre, 38, (pictured) sued Andrew for unspecified damages in August, saying he forced her to have sex with him at Maxwell’s Belgravia home, and also at Epstein’s homes in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands in 2001, when she was 17, allegations Prince Andrew strongly denies
Prince Andrew’s lawyers want the civil action to be dismissed, said it was ‘baseless’ and added that ‘sensationalism and innuendo have prevailed over the truth’.
Ms Giuffre seeks unspecified damages.
In October the Duke’s lawyers submitted a rebuttal of the ‘threadbare’ complaint, attaching media reports and Ms Giuffre’s manuscript as evidence.
Last week, the Duke failed in his bid to have the newspaper cuttings describing his accuser as a ‘money-hungry sex kitten’ taken into account by the New York judge who is considering her claim against him.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the request as a PR stunt and refused to consider the press reports or a 139-page manuscript written by Virginia Roberts Giuffre about billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Kaplan said there was ‘no proper basis’ to look at the articles or Ms Giuffre’s manuscript The Billionaire’s Playboy Club – published in 2011 – which he added ‘appear to have been submitted for whatever public relations purposes the defendants advisers may have had in mind’.
Ms Giuffre, center, who says she was trafficked by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, now deceased
In one of the media reports a US newspaper quotes former friends who slammed Ms Giuffre for bragging about her money.
In another her ex-boyfriend Philip Guderyon, who was with her during the time she spent with Epstein, claimed she ‘was like the head b***h’ at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion.
‘She’d have nine or 10 girls she used to bring to him. She never looked like she was being held captive,’ he added.
An interview Ms Giuffre gave The Mail on Sunday in 2011 for an alleged $160,000 was also submitted as evidence.
Of the manuscript, the Duke’s lawyers want to use a description of a liaison with Prince Andrew in Mexico, which Ms Giuffre later admitted did not happen, to prove their case.
The judge did agree to consider a 2009 settlement deal between Ms Giuffre and Epstein, that the Duke’s legal team previously said releases him from any responsibility, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Judge Kaplan will hear arguments on the Duke’s motion to dismiss on January 4.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk