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Prince Andrew: trial next year?
Photo: Steve Parsons / dpa
In the legal battle over allegations of abuse against Prince Andrew, the son of Queen Elizabeth II could face a trial in the coming year.
At a hearing in the civil dispute, the responsible judge in Manhattan said according to media reports that fall 2022 could be a possible date for a main trial.
The background is the allegations of the American Virginia Giuffre, who has sued Andrew for damages.
She accuses him of sexually abusing her 20 years ago when she was 17 years old.
Giuffre claims to have been made a sex slave by the now deceased US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell together with dozens of other minors.
She accuses the prince of abusing her in the house of Epstein's then girlfriend Maxwell in London.
The then 17-year-old was according to her complaint by Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew "against her will to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew".
In addition to London, the prince also abused her in Epstein's house in New York and on Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.
Epstein was arrested on charges of sexually abusing underage girls and young women and inciting prostitution for years.
He was later found dead in his cell.
The allegations against Prince Andrew have been in the room since 2019.
He always denied the allegations and stated that he could not remember a meeting with Giuffre.
However, he resigned from his royal duties after a completely unsuccessful TV interview in 2019.
He has hardly appeared in public since then.
His lawyers are trying to prevent a lawsuit.
ptz / dpa / AFP