Prince Andrew Denies Most Allegations in s**ual Abuse Lawsuit

Virginia Dufresne, who has accused Prince Andrew of s**ually assaulting her when she was a teenager, reacted strongly after the Duke of York officially denied most of the allegations leveled against him in the s**ual abuse lawsuit and insisted on a jury trial.

This means a civil trial is likely to take place later this year in New York.

Ms Dufresne claims she was forced to have s** with Prince Andrew three times when she was 17 years old and is suing him for emotional harm and battery.

The Duke of York, on the other hand, has denied any misconduct.

In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday, Prince Andrew's attorney, Andrew Brettler, set out a detailed response to Ms Dufresne's allegations that she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and directed to have s** with the royal.

Mr Brettler denied many allegations contained in Ms Dufresne's complaint and said he lacked sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations.

The Prince also denies that he was a close friend with Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted last month of five counts of trafficking young girls for her partner Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Brettler sets out more than 10 affirmative defenses in the letter, which refer to evidence the royal will use to try to disprove the case.

Among them are the claims that Ms Dufresne's wrongful conduct will be used against her and claims Ms Dufresne has acted unethically.

Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint, Mr Brettler states.

Shortly after Prince Andrew asked a jury to hear the case and dismissed most of the allegations against him, Virginia Dufresne reacted vehemently with a statement.

Prince Andrew's answer continues his approach of denying any knowledge or information concerning the claims against him and purporting to blame the victim of the abuse for somehow bringing it on herself.

We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms Dufresne for her own abuse at his deposition and at trial.

If the trial proceeds, Prince Andrew, 61, will very certainly be called to testify in person although he may refuse to go to the US.

A British person cannot be forced to fly to the United States for a civil trial, according to various legal experts.

Therefore the Prince might choose to testify via video.

Judge Kaplan has stated that a trial will be held in September or October.

Ms Dufresne's action was dismissed because Prince Andrew argued that he was protected by a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Ms Dufresne.

Judge Kaplan denied the motion earlier this month after hearing oral arguments from his lawyers.

The Queen has stripped Prince Andrew's official status, including military titles and royal patronages, following the judge's decision.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that he would confront the lawsuit as a private citizen.

Prince Andrew's attorney has said that they want to question Ms Dufresne's husband, Robert Dufresne, and her psychologist, Dr Judith Lightfoot, as part of his civil case.

They claim that Ms Dufresne may suffer from false memories and that Dr Lightfoot should be examined on theory of false memories.