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The attorney representing Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, is eyeing the Duchess of Sussex as a potential candidate to depose in the case.
David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner, who is representing Giuffre in her civil matter against the Duke of York, confirmed to Fox News Digital that deposing Meghan Markle is definitely being considered.
“She is one of a number of people that we are considering deposing. We only have between 10 and 12 depositions that we can take and one of those obviously is going to be of Prince Andrew and several of them will have to be of people who witnessed Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre. But we want to have at least a couple of depositions of people who knew Prince Andrew and were sort of members of his inner circle at various times and who might have either have knowledge themselves or have knowledge about people who would have knowledge.
“Meghan Markle, because of her position in the family, is one of those people. And because she’s in the United States, it’s easier to take her deposition than people in the United Kingdom. She is somebody who we are considering,” Boies said in an interview Wednesday.
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. Andrew has denied the allegations.
(U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
The attorney said no decisions have been made yet on the depositions and the list of 10-12 deponents would likely not be decided upon until the “end of January.”
Although it’s definitely a possibility given Markle’s status in the British royal family. It’s even more applicable to question the Duchess given her and Prince Harry’s current residency in her native California, the attorney added.
“She and her husband are really the only two members of the immediate royal family who are in the United States, she is a logical person to consider,” Boies said.
The attorney is also privy to Markle’s outspokenness in combating various issues, especially ones pertaining to women.
“I think because of her character and her interest in combating this kind of abusive behavior she would be a credible witness. Even witnesses with knowledge don’t always want to share that knowledge with you and there not all with candor. We think that she would be a candid witness, and we don’t know what she knows. But if she has information, we think she would be honest and forthcoming in testifying about it and because of where she was at the time, we think there’s a good chance she would have information,” Boies said.
As for what knowledge Boies’ team would hope to get out of the mother of two should she actually testify, the attorney said they’re looking for “more of the details” about Andrew’s alleged incidents pertaining to his accuser Giuffre.
Meghan Markle would be a "credible witness," attorney David Boies said.
(AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)
Giuffre’s attorney said that while Prince Harry is also a “possibility,” his team would rather depose Markle if confronted with choosing between the two. “She may feel a little freer to speak than her husband,” Boies said.
A representative for the Sussexes did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
One thing is certain, however. Boies does not plan to drag Andrew’s mother, Queen Elizabeth, into the legal proceedings. “Given her age and position, we are inclined to respect her right not to have to talk about her son. Other than [Andrew’s] mother, we’ve not really ruled out anybody as a potential candidate.”
In terms of whether Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, would be of value to the defense team, Boies said, “His former wife is very close to him but on the other hand, I think she would might not be as forthcoming as other people.
“We need to look at how many depositions we have left and sort of what we found out,” he added.
Earlier this month, Prince Andrew asked a judge to toss out the civil lawsuit filed against him in August by Giuffre. The accuser claims that the Queen’s son sexually abused her when she was 17 years old at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home, as well as in London and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Meghan Markle has won her own court battles in the last year. She also made global headlines in early 2021 for her bombshell sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey and her husband Prince Harry.
(Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.)
Giuffre filed the suit under the New York Child Victims’ Act, which was passed in 2019 and temporarily allowed victims to sue their alleged abusers if they were younger than 18 when the abuse took place. Andrew’s attorneys argued in a motion that the Child Victims’ Act is unconstitutional and Giuffre’s claims are invalid because she was 17 years old when the alleged abuse took place.
Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was criminally charged with sex trafficking.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and a longtime friend of Prince Andrew, is currently on trial in New York. Multiple women have testified that Maxwell groomed them to be sexually abused by Epstein when they were girls.
Giuffre’s lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, says that Giuffre “feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying” Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew because of their “powerful connections, wealth, and authority.”
Prince Andew has maintained that the allegations against him are false.
(Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Prince Andrew has maintained that the allegations against him are false, telling BBC in a widely-mocked 2019 interview that he has “no recollection” of ever meeting Giuffre.
Boies confirmed Andrew’s motion to dismiss will be argued next month and if the judge moves forward with the case, the next phase is discovery.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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