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The U.K. Judiciary says it has accepted a request to serve papers to Prince Andrew on behalf of the attorneys representing Virginia Roberts Giuffre regarding her civil lawsuit launched against him in the U.S., Fox New has learned.
Giuffre claims the Duke sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old. The U.K. Judiciary confirmed the news of its acceptance on Monday, telling Fox News in a statement that Giuffre’s attorneys had provided them with the necessary information and the office had "accepted the request for service under the Hague Service Convention."
"The legal process has not yet been served but the High Court will now take steps to serve under the Convention unless service is arranged by agreement between the parties," the statement continued.
Virginia Giuffre has long alleged she was abused by the Duke of York when she was underage (Getty Images)
The question of whether papers were initially legitimately served to the Duke of York was a topic of contention in during a pretrial hearing held telephonically on Monday. At the time, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Giuffre's attorneys one week to determine whether or not to have U.K. authorities involved in the document-serving process.
Attorneys for Giuffre had previously said they served Andrew with legal papers on the morning of Aug. 27. The legal team said the documents were handed over to a Metropolitan Police officer on duty at the main gates of Andrew’s home in Windsor Great Park at 9:30 a.m.
On Monday, Giuffre's attorney David Boies was confident that he did the correct proceeding and that no further steps were needed.
Photo from 2001 that was included in court files shows Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre who says Jeffrey Epstein paid her to have sex with the prince. (Florida Southern District Court) (U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
"Our view, your honor, is that at this point that (the need for the court to intervene) is not necessary, that we have properly served him," Boies said at the time. "If the court were to determine for some reason that our service was defective … we would ask the court to order alternative service, in the interest of moving the case along."
Attorneys will be back in court on Oct. 13.
Last month, Giuffre accused Andrew of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times on Epstein's orders.
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Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegations in the lawsuit brought by Giuffre, a longtime accuser of Jeffrey Epstein, a now-deceased convicted sex offender.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
