Queen ‘spending millions privately funding Prince Andrew’s fight against sex assault lawsuit’

The Queen is spending millions of pounds funding Prince Andrew’s fight against sex abuse allegations, reports say.

The Duke of York is being sued in New York by Virginia Giuffre, now 38, who claims he sexually abused her on three separate occasions when she was 17 — in London, New York and on billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island. 

Andrew, 61, has consistently and strongly denied the allegations.

Her Majesty, 95, agreed to pay for the duke’s legal defence last year shortly after his disastrous interview on BBC Newsnight, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The Duke of York is being sued in New York by Virginia Giuffre, now 38, who claims he sexually abused her on three separate occasions when she was 17 — in London , New York and on billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein 's Caribbean island

The Queen (pictured left, at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion in Scotland yesterday) is spending millions of pounds funding Prince Andrew’s (right) fight against sex abuse allegations, reports say

The duke last week expanded his American legal team to include Melissa Lerner alongside his lead counsel Andrew Brettler.

Mr Brettler is thought to be charging the Duke around $2,000 (£1,476) an hour.

The Queen will source funds from her private Duchy of Lancaster estate, the newspaper reported.

Royal courtiers are said to expect the bill to run into millions as the civil case against Andrew continues for months or even years.

And a potential settlement or damages payout would cost millions more on top of the overall bill.

Virginia Roberts photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2001

Virginia Roberts photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2001

Lerner is from Los Angeles-based Lavley Singer — a top law firm known for making celebrities’ legal problems disappear.

The same day, an attorney for Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts said Epstein’s estate had agreed to disclose the details of a secret settlement between her and Epstein – which the duke is arguing could protect him from liability.

In a car-crash 2019 interview with the BBC, he claimed he had no memory of ever meeting Roberts, now a 38-year-old mother-of-three who lives in Australia and goes by her married name, Virginia Giuffre.

A now-infamous photo, taken inside the London townhouse of Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell, shows Andrew smiling for the camera with his arm around Roberts’ waist while Maxwell stands in the background. Maxwell has denied being a madam.

Lerner, who has represented rock stars in the past, requested that she be allowed to represent Andrew with a motion for admission, a formal request to be somebody’s attorney. 

Virginia Roberts (pictured) claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was just 17 - under the age of consent in the US. He denies the allegations

Virginia Roberts (pictured) claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was just 17 – under the age of consent in the US. He denies the allegations 

Prince Andrew walking with Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park, New York City in 2011 after the friends left Epstein's home in Manhattan

Prince Andrew walking with Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park, New York City in 2011 after the friends left Epstein’s home in Manhattan

The motion, filed in federal court, says she requests an order to ‘appear as counsel for Defendant Prince Andrew, Duke Of York, a/k/a Andrew Albert Christian Edward’. 

Attorneys for Roberts have won the release of paperwork which the prince’s team believe is key, heading off the potential for more delays.

And Miss Roberts’s side are so satisfied that her legal settlement with Jeffrey Epstein will not protect the duke that they will happily hand it over. 

Usually Andrew’s team would have to apply to the court to ask for a ruling but the pre-emptive move from the opposition negates the need for that. 

His lawyers said they believed the deal signed by Miss Roberts in 2009 to settle a civil claim against Epstein would release him ‘from any and all liability’. 

Newly filed court documents show that her team has got permission from Epstein’s estate to pass on the agreement, which had until now been kept strictly under wraps.

They have asked the judge to sign off on the handover in a signal that they think it will have little bearing on the case.

Miss Roberts’s attorney David Boies wrote: ‘Jeffrey Epstein’s Estate has now consented to Ms Giuffre providing a copy of the confidential agreement at issue to Prince Andrew.’

Mr Boies has warned that he thinks the document is ‘irrelevant’ to the case against the duke.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk