Royal family's worst fears realized as Judge says Prince Andrew must face Virginia Giuffre lawsuit

 U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday said Virginia Giuffre, 38, could pursue claims that Prince Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress while the late financier Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her.

According to Reuters, Andrew failed to persuade the  judge to dismiss Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.

The Manhattan judge said it was premature to assess Andrew's efforts to "cast doubt" on those claims, though the 61-year-old prince could do so at a trial.

Kaplan said it was also too soon to decide whether Giuffre's 2009 civil settlement with Epstein "clearly and unambiguously" shielded Andrew from her lawsuit.

The judge did not address the merits of Giuffre's claims.

Lawyers for Andrew did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

David Boies, a lawyer for Giuffre, in a statement said his client was pleased, and "looks forward to a judicial determination" of the merits of her claims.

Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties.

Kaplan's decision keeps the case on track for a trial that he has said could begin between September and December 2022 if no settlement were reached.