US sex-assault case should be thrown out as accuser is an Australia resident, says Prince Andrew

Britain’s Prince Andrew says a US lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault may need to be thrown out because the alleged victim probably lives in Australia.

In a filing on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court in New York, Andrew said a finding that Virginia Giuffre was domiciled in Australia would remove the court’s jurisdiction over the case. He asked US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to force Giuffre to answer questions about her residency under oath.

Giuffre sued Andrew in New York in August, claiming he sexually abused her on multiple occasions when she was 17, after Jeffrey Epstein “lent” her out to the British royal and other powerful men. Andrew has denied her allegations.

In Tuesday’s filing, Andrew said recently discovered evidence shows that Giuffre has lived in Australia for all but two of the last 19 years, despite claiming in her suit that she was a resident of Colorado. Giuffre has not lived in Colorado since at least 2019, Andrew said, and had an Australian driving licence and lived in a US$1.16 million West Perth home with her family when she filed the suit.

“It appears that prior to filing this action, but well after she returned to Australia, Ms Giuffre registered to vote for the first time in Colorado using her mother’s home address in Penrose,” Andrew said.

“The timing of Ms Giuffre’s voter registration is suspicious and appears to be a calculated move in an effort to support her specious claim of citizenship in Colorado despite having moved to Australia at least a year (if not four years) earlier.”

Giuffre’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing.