The witness list for Prince Andrew’s trial
Judge requests testimonies from four people including the duke’s former aide and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s husband
A New York judge has asked law enforcement in the UK and Australia to help collect testimonies from Prince Andrew’s former aide and three other potential witnesses for the sex assault civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
The Duke of York has denied all of the allegations against him, including being a co-conspirator of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But New York Judge Lewis Kaplan last month denied “in all respects” a plea by Andrew’s lawyers to dismiss the civil damages claim and ruled that the case could continue.
Newly released court documents show that Kaplan has filed letters to the UK High Court, the senior master of the Queen’s Bench Division and the Australian attorney-general “to ask for their help in gathering evidence” from a total of four witnesses by the end of April, The Times reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Here is the witness list so far for the civil case, which is pencilled in to take place between September and December.
Robert Olney
Ex-aide Onley is to be questioned about Andrew’s communications with Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Giuffre, “along with his travel to Epstein’s homes”, according to The Times.
Former Army Air Corps officer Olney, now head of safety and business delivery at the Civil Aviation Authority, was listed in “Epstein’s infamous ‘little black book’ of contacts”, said the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay. Olney also “accompanied Andrew on several high-profile trips around the globe”.
“All the same, the request to interview him as a witness has surprised Andrew’s team,” added Kay, who noted that Olney was appointed as equerry to the royal in September 2002 – more than a year after a then teenage Giuffre was allegedly forced to have sex with Andrew.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shukri Walker
Judge Kaplan has also requested evidence from Walker – a woman who may have seen Prince Andrew with Giuffre at a London nightclub two decades ago.
According to Giuffre’s lawyers, Walker said she saw the royal “with a young girl around the time that the plaintiff contends Prince Andrew abused her in London after visiting Tramp nightclub”.
Walker’s lawyer Lisa Bloom – who has represented women against both Bill Cosby and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly – told The Guardian last month that her client would be “willing to do the deposition Virginia Giuffre’s team is seeking”.
Giuffre’s lawyers have said that Walker’s testimony is “highly relevant” because Andrew has “denied ever meeting plaintiff or being at Tramp nightclub during the relevant time period”.
Robert Giuffre
Kaplan has written to the Australian Attorney General requesting assistance in getting testimony from Giuffre’s husband, Robert, on behalf of Andrew’s attorneys.
The couple moved to Australia after meeting 20 years ago in Thailand, where she was studying massage techniques and he was a martial arts tutor. They wed “in a Buddhist temple within ten days of meeting” and now have three children,The Telegraph reported.
According to The Independent, the judge has asked for his testimony to include how he met his wife, “his discussions with her about Andrew, her alleged childhood trauma and abuse, and her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell”. The testimony is also requested to cover “all claims Ms Giuffre has made against the duke, her alleged emotional and psychological harm and damages, her role in trafficking and recruiting young girls for Epstein, and the Giuffre household’s finances”, the newspaper said.
Judith Lightfoot
Andrew’s lawyers also asked for help in obtaining testimony from Giuffre’s psychologist, Dr Lightfoot.
Judge Kaplan has said that Lightfoot’s evidence should include “Ms Giuffre’s medical treatment, her diagnosis of Ms Giuffre, matters discussed during their sessions and claims made about Andrew”, the London Evening Standard reported.
Lightfoot will also reportedly be questioned about theories put forward by Andrew’s legal team that Giuffre “may suffer from false memories”.
Whether Dr Lightfoot “will be allowed to refuse access” to such personal information “due to patient/doctor confidentiality” remains to be seen, the paper added.
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The future of X
Talking Point Trump's ascendancy is reviving the platform's coffers, whether or not a merger is on the cards
By The Week UK Published
-
The Epstein papers: what do they reveal?
Talking Points Documents adding new detail to existing claims cause 'new furore'
By The Week UK Published
-
Epstein files released: Prince Andrew back in the spotlight
Talking Points Duke of York named in nearly 1,000 pages of newly released court files
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
‘A fundamental right’: free speech and anti-monarchists
Talking Point Arrests of republican protesters in cities across UK sparks outcry and debate
By The Week Staff Published
-
Prince Andrew and the £1m ‘gift’ from Turkish ‘fraudster’ explained
feature Court told that Duke of York received cash from elderly woman ‘hoodwinked by crooked middleman’
By The Week Staff Published
-
What was in the deposition Ghislaine Maxwell fought to keep sealed?
Speed Read British socialite insists she never witnessed ‘inappropriate underage activities’ by Jeffrey Epstein
By Chas Newkey-Burden Last updated
-
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers try to block release of ‘sex trafficking’ deposition
Speed Read British socialite argues that unsealing the documents would prevent her right to fair trial
By Chas Newkey-Burden Last updated
-
Prince Andrew visits Queen for ‘crisis talks’ over links to Jeffrey Epstein
Speed Read Duke of York met with his mother at Balmoral Castle in Scotland
By Aaron Drapkin Last updated
-
Prince Andrew ‘used Spitting Image puppet of himself’ to assault Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Speed Read Court documents show that the Duke is accused of groping two of Jeffrey Epstein ‘sex slaves’ with the latex doll
By Joe Evans Published