Prince Andrew will 'continue to defend himself' against the sex abuse lawsuit after the Queen stripped him of his royal titles and military patronages today, a source has said.
The Duke of York will no longer be known as His Royal Highness 'in any official capacity' in a stunning downfall as his family abandoned him to fight his sex abuse lawsuit in America as a private citizen.
Today, a source close to the royal said he would continue to fight Virginia Roberts Giuffre's allegations after the judge dismissed his legal team's attempt to have the case thrown out.
The source said: 'Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling.
'However, it was not a judgement on the merits of Ms Giuffre's allegations.
'This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.'
Prince Andrew will 'continue to defend himself' against the sex abuse lawsuit after the Queen stripped him of his royal titles
Andrew was left with 'only bad options', legal experts said, after his bid to have the case thrown out was dismissed.
Despite pleas for Andrew to 'do the right thing for the Queen' and offer his accuser millions to avoid a trial, the duke appeared to be digging in for the long haul.
His accuser, Jeffrey Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts, was, however, said to be determined to snub any offer of cash in favour of having her day in court.
Their positions dramatically raised the likelihood of a showdown between the Queen's second son and Miss Roberts in a New York court this autumn.
In a crushing ruling this week, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected the senior royal's arguments for cancelling the case. Miss Roberts, who is suing Andrew for undisclosed damages under her married name of Giuffre, alleges she was forced to
Andrew has been accused of trying to 'dodge, duck, run and hide' from the case, initially by using his mother's palaces to avoid being served with the legal papers.
After that failed, he came out fighting with his US lawyer branding Miss Roberts a 'money-hungry sex kitten' who had 'initiated this baseless lawsuit to achieve another payday'. Last week, the duke – who strenuously denies all the accusations – attempted to have the case struck out in a crunch hearing in Manhattan. But his bid was comprehensively dismissed by Judge Kaplan on Wednesday.
Today, a source close to the royal said he would continue to fight Virginia Roberts Giuffre's allegations
It led to widespread calls for him to stump up millions to settle the case rather than submit himself to a humiliating and disastrous courtroom grilling about his sex life in the Platinum Jubilee year.But last night Miss Roberts' lawyer, David Boies, vowed that she would not give in, even if offered a bonanza cash settlement.
He said: 'She wants to achieve justice. I think it's very important to Virginia Giuffre that this matter be resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindicates other victims.'
Mr Boies said there had been 'no suggestion' of a settlement discussion at this point. He said that Miss Roberts had previously 'reached out' to Prince Andrew offering to find a settlement to avoid going to court but 'there was no interest in that at that time'.
'Whether that has changed or not I think we will have to wait and see,' the attorney added.
But he stressed: 'A purely financial settlement is not anything that I think she is interested in.'
The price for Andrew settling with Miss Roberts appears to be high. She will likely demand not just cash, but a grovelling statement and admission of contrition.
Miss Roberts alleges she was recruited as a 16-year-old in Florida by Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
Last night, Prince Andrew's lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic were locked in crisis talks after their motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts (pictured middle) was 'denied in all respects', meaning the case is now heading towards an unedifying trial this autumn
Paedophile Epstein killed himself in 2019, rather than face trial, while last month Maxwell was found guilty of presiding over a scheme recruiting children for sex with Epstein. Miss Roberts – who was not part of the Maxwell case – alleges she was loaned out to Epstein's wealthy and powerful friends including Prince Andrew.
He strenuously denies all the claims, and says he does not even remember meeting Miss Roberts. The infamous photograph of them together in London in March 2001 where his hand is squeezing the teenager's
