Prince Andrew sued by Virginia Roberts ll

[Blossomtoes]

Continued from previous thread

Interesting. What a coward. As I’ve said before if you were innocent , you’d want to do all you could to clear your name.
He’s just fortunate he’s got 98 private acres to hide in.

It is laughable and doesn't get enough press

I think if the lawyers for Virginia Roberts are able to show their efforts to serve papers were genuine, and that PA's efforts to rebuff them were obstructive, a judgement by default is starting to look increasingly likely.

Let's see how the royal family like those headlines. Even the British media won't play quietly with that one, not at the same time as the ongoing Maxwell trial and its inevitable revelations.

I don't think it has really sunk in with the royal family that this is the calm before the storm.

Totally agree Spindle.

The RF have always had the ultimate power with the 'never complain never explain' mantra, but that is coming unstuck at the seams.

There's been a poll asking whether PA should give up all titles. Now... normally I don't take much notice of polls, particularly if it's a low number of participants like some of the you.gov ones are. This was not far short of 8,000, and 87% said YES.

From what I've read the hearing on 13th September is likely to include questions on how the serving of papers is going.

Does this mean if he's shown to be actively obstructing service it might go to judgement that day or might the judge allow attempts to continue for a couple of months then go to judgement by default before the 120 day deadline?

Anyway. It appears PA is effectively confined to barracks for the duration however many acres he notionally has to romp in.

This below from US press....

Prince Andrew ‘will be served court papers in person’, the lawyer for his sexual assault accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre has said.

The Duke of York will be given them in Britain in a ‘difficult’ feat that could take weeks, the American’s legal team claimed.

They said that they needed to get them to the Royal before the start of the 21 days in which he will have to reply, with the first court hearing set for September.

David Boies told The Telegraph: ‘We present him with a copy of the complaint in a formal way. Because he is a foreign citizen, we have to do this under the Hague Convention.’

Not just difficult then but impossible if he's refusing to stick his head out of the door.

I wonder why they didn't try to nab him when the convoy from Balmoral was in transit. He must have needed a comfort stop or two somewhere along the way.

I suppose it would be a security issue to approach him perhaps, I bet they have to tread really carefully with that sort of thing maybe?

Endangering the life of a member of the RF, type stuff

Yes, sounding impossible

But the option of ignoring it all isn't good either...

So do the papers actually have to be placed into his hands or stuffed inside his jacket?

How would the server ever get past his personal protection officer? It just all seems quite impossible.

I just don't know. If it's all Hague convention rules, I could imagine that if they were in front of PA, that is like him being served with the papers? It just says 'in person' .. who knows what that means!

I could be wrong but I thought that court papers could be served on a defendant’s lawyers if the defendant isn’t willing or able to accept them .
Happy to be corrected .

Could well be Oldbutstil, really not sure at all.

@Oldbutstillgotit

I could be wrong but I thought that court papers could be served on a defendant’s lawyers if the defendant isn’t willing or able to accept them . Happy to be corrected .

You’d think that would be an option as PPs have said will be impossible for the server to get anywhere near him

Maybe someone with legal knowledge will pop by.
I am in Scotland so may be different here but am sure I heard this.

I've had a quick look and so far all I can find is that the Hague Convention seems to be concerned with how to serve papers via the Foreign Office etc, and how then the FO has to deal with it. It doesn't go into the details of how papers get physically pressed into someone's hands, just the general principles.

Maybe Dominic Raab can have a crack at it, he hasn't got much going on apparently in his head.

As clear as mud then!

Raab is conspicuous by his absence at the moment!

www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=17

This seems to be the relevant text? ^^

There was another article in DM today saying that the FBI are still seeking to speak with PA and are becoming increasingly frustrated with him. It’s certainly not going to go away any time soon

Gosh... even the DM? Yikes

And this from american press...

www.thedailybeast.com/prince-andrews-gilded-cage-closes-in-as-department-of-justice-reiterates-desire-to-speak-to-disgraced-royal?source=articles&via=rss

A key part of his strategy in recent weeks has been to hide out at various well-defended properties owned by his mother, the queen.

While serving papers on Prince Andrew in person is not a legal necessity, Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, is suspected to be keen to create a visual narrative of a besieged Andrew.

Having spent time at Balmoral in Scotland earlier in the summer, Andrew, the Sun reported this weekend, is now hiding himself away at Royal Lodge in Windsor to avoid being served documents in the civil case against him, which alleges he raped Roberts Giuffre when she was 17.

Security guards stopped “multiple attempts” by lawyers last week to hand the documents over, the paper said.

I wonder how it works, with security preventing papers from being served. Would it be considered some kind of obstruction to justice ? Lots of rich people must get away with this.

The clock is ticking. If he carries on with avoidance, there will be a default judgement and that is not good.

He needs to face up to this, and the Q needs to force him to.

@Itsthepitstoo

I wonder how it works, with security preventing papers from being served. Would it be considered some kind of obstruction to justice ? Lots of rich people must get away with this.

From the article it appears it's more about creating a spectacle than a legal requirement.

Undoubtedly plenty would close the curtains and switch the lights off if it was that easy to dodge service. I fully expect there are alternative channels.

Whether they'll be applied to the queen's favourite remains to be seen.

This is interesting...

here

The options are as follows, and gone into in detail

Case Struck out
Engaging in the case
Case goes to trial
A deal

I cannot begin to imagine how much this is costing the taxpayer in legal fees, the mind boggles.

@Roussette,

Are you sure taxpayer is footing bill? I read it was being footed by the royal family’s own funds.

The family's own royal funds are our funds really..

If there is a payout to VG, it might well come from the Duchy of Lancaster which although hers in name is owned by the people, by us. She can't pass it on or sell any of it, so it's ours in all but name.