PRINCE Andrew’s fate hangs in the balance tomorrow as a judge decides if his sex case is quashed.
Lawyers for the duke — who said he cannot sweat — will argue in New York that Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuit should be dropped.
They claim a secret 2009 deal she made with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein exempts him from legal action.
A New York judge will rule whether the civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre should be thrown out.
The duke’s team say the 2009 agreement between her and Jeffrey Epstein, published for the first time yesterday, exempts him from legal action.
In it she agreed to end all action against “second parties” but does not name the duke.
Lawyers warned HOAR Andrew, who denied Virginia’s claims he danced with her in 2001 by claiming he cannot sweat, may not be in the clear.
Spencer Kuvin, who represents victims of paedo Epstein, said: “Andrew is going to have a hard time on this — it is not clear-cut for his lawyers at all. I think he is going to still have to sweat on this lawsuit for a while. That is, if he can.”
£371,000 deal with Epstein
Virginia, 38, claims Andrew, 61, sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17.
He denies it and cannot remember meeting her, although they were photographed together.
The document released yesterday showed she signed a £371,000 deal with Epstein.
It released “second parties” — including Epstein employees — from legal action. It also states anyone “who could have been included as a potential defendant” is also released.
The duke’s US lawyer, Andrew Brettler, will argue that covers Andrew. But David Bois, Virginia’s lawyer said: “The release is irrelevant to Ms Giuffre’s claim against Prince Andrew.
“It does not mention Prince Andrew. He could not have been a ‘potential defendant’ in the settled case against Epstein in Florida because it involved federal claims to which he was not a part. The actual parties to the release have made clear that Prince Andrew was not covered by it.”
Judge Lewis Kaplan will chair the video hearing in New York, though it is not clear when he will issue a ruling.
It comes after Andrew’s pal Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking last week.
Nigel Cawthorne, who wrote Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell And The Palace, said: “I think Andrew’s reputation has been damaged for ever, regardless of today’s decision.”
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