Prince Andrew blasted as coward as Virginia Giuffres dad warns Duke is playing a game – Express

Sky Roberts said he would give evidence if a civil trial in the US, demanded in a legal document filed by the Queen’s second son, goes ahead. He told the Sunday Mirror: “If my daughter asks me to stand up in court, I will do it and tell them the truth.

“She wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t right. I believe in her.”

Mr Roberts, 65, spoke out days after the Duke of York’s lawyers filed paperwork calling for the case to be thrown out due to Ms Giuffre’s own “wrongful conduct”, citing a legal term known as “unclean hands”.

He told the Sunday Mirror he believed this would pave the way for claims his daughter trafficked other girls for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He said: “It’s the coward’s way out to try to blame the victim.”

Ms Giuffre, 38, also known as Virginia Roberts, alleges she was trafficked by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to be molested by billionaire financier Epstein and his friends.

She has brought a case of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the duke. It is claimed she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Epstein and others to Andrew, who is alleged to have sexually abused her when she was under 18. Prince Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

The trial is scheduled to take place between September and December with parties confirming by July 28 whether they wish it to proceed.

Both Andrew and Ms Giuffre have demanded a jury trial.

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Mr Roberts told the Sunday Mirror: “He is playing a game and he is bluffing.

“He doesn’t have a strong hand. Do you think my daughter wants to go through this stuff?

“She has kids. Do you think she wants to go back there after all that happened?

“No. She is doing it because it’s right. It’s ridiculous for him to say that Virginia’s hands are unclean or she has skeletons in her closet, or whatever.”

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Mr Roberts added: “[Andrew] is also trying to say he doesn’t even know who Virginia is.

“Yet there’s the picture with her, him and Ghislaine Maxwell, together. I believe a jury won’t believe him. That’s why Virginia wants a jury trial.”

He claimed Epstein had “bargained” out his daughter whom the disgraced paedophile had subjected to threats to harm her or her family.

The retired maintenance manager told the Sunday Mirror: “Financially is the only way she can hurt [Andrew]. Virginia has tried everything so, monetarily, that’s the only way to go.

“How else are you going to hurt him? You’re going to send him to jail?

“No. He will be protected, he will never see a jail. If he would have just apologised, she wouldn’t have been doing this. Because then he would have admitted it.

“When it actually comes down to it, he might settle out of court just to stop all this stuff coming out. But either way, it’s going to hurt him.”

The latest court document, which details all 11 reasons why the duke’s lawyers believed the case should be dismissed, reiterated the position on the 2009 agreement which was that Ms Giuffre “waived the claims now asserted in the complaint”.

Prince Andrew’s legal team has asked the court to consider the issue of consent.

The document reads: “Assuming, without admitting, that Giuffre has suffered any injury or damage alleged in the complaint, Giuffre’s claims are barred by the doctrine of consent.”

Andrew’s lawyers also assert Ms Giuffre should not be able to proceed because her claim for damages is too speculative to be recovered at law.

This may suggest the duke is claiming Ms Giuffre’s allegations cannot be proved with reasonable certainty, which would leave jurors speculating as to the actual damages suffered.

The paperwork goes on to argue that the claims should be dismissed because Ms Giuffre is a permanent resident of Australia.

In the 11-page document, Andrew denies being a close friend of Maxwell or a frequent guest at Epstein’s homes.

He has also denied that he refused to cooperate with authorities in the US in their investigation and prosecution of Epstein.

Andrew’s lawyers have also stated he did not throw Maxwell a birthday party at Sandringham, and “lacked sufficient information to admit or deny” inviting Epstein to his daughter’s 18th birthday party a month after the financier became a convicted sex offender.

The duke has also said he has insufficient information to know if he sent emails to Maxwell in 2015 saying he had “some specific questions” to ask her about Ms Giuffre.