PRINCE Andrew has asked for a jury trial and denied the allegations – but experts warn a public trial will cause IRREPARABLE damage to the Monarchy
Court documents from New York show the royal denies all of the allegations against him and “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint”.
A trial date is pencilled in for the end of 2022, taking place between September and December this year.
However, media lawyer Mark Stephens speculates the duke may still pull back from a trial to avoid the legal spectacle which could damage the standing of the monarchy in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.
He said: “The reason we think he’s got to settle is because of the timing. Essentially this case is going to take up the rest of this year and if it takes up the rest of this year, that’s the whole of his mother’s Platinum Jubilee.
“The only thing he could have done to stop this getting worse is to have pulled the case and stopped it in some way so there was no alternative news. This is going to be crippling if he really is dead set on running this to a trial.”
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