Prince Andrew should confront allegations of sexual assault in court for the sake of all Jeffery Epstein’s victims, a US lawyer has said after a lawsuit was filed against the royal. The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York on Monday by Virginia Roberts Guiffre claims Andrew sexually abused her at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan and at other locations in 2001, when she was a 17-year-old minor. She also says in her claim that Andrew “stonewalled” in the face of communications from her lawyer and rejected a request to explore alternative dispute resolution. On Tuesday, the prince’s spokesperson said he had “no comment” when asked to respond to Giuffre’s decision to file the civil suit. The prince’s alleged refusal to engage with Giuffre – having previously been accused of refusing to cooperate with US prosecutors – has raised uncertainty about his likely level of engagement in the civil action. Andrew has previously “absolutely and categorically” denied having sex with Giuffre and Buckingham Palace has called the claims “false and without foundation”. The duke was seen arriving at the royal Scottish retreat of Balmoral Castle, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday evening, apparently for talks with the Queen. He was thought to have been accompanied by his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Arick Fudali is a partner at the New York legal firm Bloom, which has represented nine victims of Epstein, a billionaire friend of Andrew who killed himself in 2019 while facing charges relating to the alleged abuse of hundreds of girls. Fudali said: “I would like to hear what Prince Andrew has to say in a court of law and I think a lot of people probably would. “Of course I watched the [BBC Newsnight] interview he gave [in which he denied having had sex with Giuffre] and read the statements he gave after the interview but I think a lot of interested parties, anyone who’s been involved in Jeffrey Epstein cases and cases against his estate, will like to see more information presented … in the confines of a court of law.” Fudali added: “Almost all my clients have lived in debilitating fear of Mr Epstein, of Mr Epstein’s friends, of his influence. Even beyond the grave, they they still live in fear of him.” He said the three options open to Andrew were to settle the case before it comes to court, defend himself against the allegations or try to avoid service of the lawsuit against him by lieu of being in a foreign country. If the suit is successfully physically served on him but he declines to cooperate with the court or present a defence, he runs the risk of a judgement being entered against him in absentia. Unless he is prepared to defend himself in face in court, the lawsuit may effectively prevent Andrew from visiting the US where he was formerly a regular visitor. Richard Spafford, a partner at Reed Smith, said: “[If he travelled to the US] it would then be more difficult for him to argue that he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the [New York] court.” Because it is a civil case, involving an unspecified claim for damages, and does not involve criminal charges, there is no prospect of the prince being extradited. Despite his hope for Epstein’s victims, Fudali said there was only a slim chance of the case going to trial because most cases are resolved before reaching that state. “It’s not impossible, there’s a slim chance but there’s a chance,” he said. Melissa Murray, professor of law at New York university, said that even if did get to trial, it would likely take a long time, even years, but options to settle the case were limited. “A lot of his opportunities kind of evaporated because if you make a categorical denial in the manner that he did in that [BBC] interview, it’s really hard then to go and settle a dispute with the person who made those claims that you categorically denied because it would be like walking back those claims or at least admitting that there might have been some truth to what she was saying.” Andrew is named as the only defendant in the 15-page suit, brought under New York state’s Child Victims Act, though Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell are mentioned frequently throughout. Giuffre’s lawsuit stated: “Twenty years ago Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her. It is long past the time for him to be held to account.” In November 2019, Andrew told BBC Newsnight that he never had sex with Giuffre and had “no recollection” of ever meeting her.