Former Prince Andrew’s New Accuser Faces Major Lawsuit Hurdles

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, is facing threats of a new Jeffrey Epstein-related lawsuit from a second woman—but a lawyer told Newsweek there are significant obstacles she would have to overcome.

The new allegation comes from a woman who says through her lawyer, Brad Edwards, that she was sent to Britain by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew in 2010. Andrew has always denied having sex with any woman introduced to him by Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre had previously accused Andrew of rape through a civil lawsuit filed in New York in 2021. Andrew has always denied her allegations and settled out of court while denying liability.

Neama Rahmani, president of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek: “The challenge is the statute of limitations has run.”

Newsweek approached Edwards by email for comment. Newsweek has approached Buckingham Palace and Andrew’s former representatives in relation to the woman’s allegations.

Why It Matters

If the new accuser does get her lawsuit off the ground, that could create a crisis not only for Andrew but also King Charles III.

Andrew does not currently have either PR or legal representation so even fighting the case could be beyond his financial capabilities without his older brother’s help. Settling out of court perhaps even more so.

That could leave Charles contemplating whether to fund Andrew in the face of public appetite in Britain to see Andrew forced to testify under oath about the Epstein scandal. As recently as November, a poll of over 4,500 U.K. adults by YouGov showed 75 percent said Andrew should testify before Congress in America compared to 9 percent who said he should not.

What to Know

Giuffre’s case was filed on the basis that at age 17 she was a minor under New York’s Child Victims Act when she says she was forced by Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001 to have sexual relations. The new accuser says she was in her 20s, so not a minor.

Rahmani said age would not by itself sink the case but pointed to the fact civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault must be filed within a certain time limit. This statute of limitations can vary state by state and depends on the details, but Rahmani said her accusations would be out of time in the key states relevant to the Epstein scandal.

“The allegation would be non-consensual sex, sexual assault,” he told Newsweek. “In the majority of states that claim would have already run. And the places that Epstein was, New York, Florida, U.K., you know, all those jurisdictions it does appear that the statute of limitations has run. That’s the biggest challenge the accuser has.

“Now, obviously, if it’s sexual abuse as a minor, that’s a very different statute, both criminally and civilly. But if she’s in her 20s and she’s making that claim, it has likely run the statute. That’s the biggest challenge.”

Asked about the time limits by Newsweek, Brad Edwards, the woman’s lawyer, told Newsweek: “It is not an obstacle.  I can understand why he, or anyone without any knowledge of the situation, would think that though.”

Those time limits only apply, though, to civil lawsuits. If the woman were to report Andrew to the police then the 16-year gap between the allegation and the report would not prevent an investigation, if police felt the evidence warranted one.

“My understanding is in the United States and the U.K, if it’s trafficking, there’s no statute of limitations issue,” Rahmani said. “So then the question is, was she trafficked or was this prostitution? I think that’s the biggest issue.

“Obviously, the difference between the two is the consent, the force, the coercion. If this is someone who was trafficked, as opposed to someone who was a prostitute, then absolutely, United States, U.K., that is something that can and should be prosecuted.”

What People Are Saying

Brad Edwards, the woman’s lawyer, told the BBC: “We’re talking about at least one woman who was sent by Jeffrey Epstein over to Prince Andrew. And she even had, after a night with Prince Andrew, a tour of Buckingham Palace.”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was asked during his interview with BBC’s Newsnight in 2019 whether he could have had sex with “any young woman trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein in any of his residences?” and replied: “No and without putting too fine a point on it, if you’re a man it is a positive act to have sex with somebody.

“You have to have to take some sort of positive action and so therefore if you try to forget it’s very difficult to try and forget a positive action and I do not remember anything.”

Prince Edward became the first royal apart from Andrew himself to comment publicly on the Epstein scandal on Tuesday when he said: “It’s really important always to remember the victims in all this, and who are the victims in this?” After a pause, he added: “A lot of victims in this.”

What Happens Next

Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has made a referral to Britain’s Metropolitan Police, though there is currently nothing to suggest the woman herself has reported her allegations.