Fergie and family enjoy New Year’s skiing holiday at Prince Andrew’s £17m Swiss chalet
Prince Andrew‘s family continued their New Year’s skiing holiday while the Duke of York kept a low profile inside the Queen’s Windsor estate.
The Duchess of York chatted happily with daughter Beatrice and her son-in-law Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi as they prepared to hit the slopes.
The newly-weds enjoyed the sunshine in the Swiss resort of Verbier with Edo’s five-year-old son Christopher Wolfe who is known as Wolfie.
Beatrice was joined by her sister Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank.
The families celebrated the New Year together at the Duke of York’s £17million luxury chalet – which was thought to be up for sale earlier this year – that overlooks the exclusive resort.
Meanwhile Prince Andrew is preparing for a court hearing in New York City Tuesday that will determine whether the case against him by sex-trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre will proceed.
The Duchess of York continues to support her ex-husband through the increasingly troubling scandal.
Prince Andrew’s family continued their New Year’s skiing holiday while the Duke of York kept a low profile inside the Queen’s Windsor estate. Pictured: Beatrice and Edo
The Duchess of York (pictured) chatted happily with daughter Beatrice and her son-in-law Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi as they prepared to hit the slopes
The newly-weds enjoyed the sunshine in the Swiss resort of Verbier with Edo’s five-year-old son Christopher Wolfe who is known as Wolfie. Pictured: The pram for their youngest
It comes as Prince Andrew’s effort to block the progression of the lawsuit on the grounds that she no longer lives in the US – was rejected by a federal judge.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, in a written order Friday, told the prince’s lawyers they must turn over documents on the schedule that has been set in the lawsuit brought in August by Ms Roberts.
She says she was abused by the prince on multiple occasions in 2001 while she was being sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein. The prince’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, has called the lawsuit ‘baseless.’
The order was filed three days before the scheduled public release Monday of a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Giuffre.
Lawyers for Andrew say that the agreement protects the prince from claims like those brought by Giuffre and will be sufficient grounds for the lawsuit’s dismissal.
The families celebrated the New Year together at the Duke of York’s £17million luxury chalet that overlooks the exclusive resort. Left: Beatrice. Right: The Duchess of York
Meanwhile Prince Andrew is preparing for a court hearing in New York City Tuesday that will determine whether the case against him by sex-trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre will proceed. Pictured: The royals in Verbier
The Duchess of York is pictured on Sunday afternoon leaving the chalet where she has been spending New Year
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, gets into the Mercedes wagon outside their chalet in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon
The prince’s lawyers had claimed that the evidence was so strong that Giuffre does not reside in the US that it was pointless to exchange evidence until that question is resolved because it could result in the lawsuit’s dismissal.
They argued that Giuffre has lived in Australia all but two of the past 19 years, has an Australian driver’s license and lives in a $1.9 million home in Perth, Western Australia, where she has been raising three children with her husband, who is Australian.
In a statement, Giuffre attorney Sigrid McCawley called the request to halt the case ‘just another in a series of tired attempts by Prince Andrew to duck and dodge the legal merits of the case Virginia Giuffre has brought against him.
All parties in litigation are subject to discovery and Prince Andrew is no exception.’
Kaplan, in a one-page order, noted that the prince’s lawyers have requested that ‘extensive’ materials be turned over by Giuffre by January 14, including documents related to where she has lived.
And he said the prince’s attorneys have not yet formally raised the defense that the lawsuit cannot proceed on the grounds that Giuffre has been living in Australia rather than Colorado, where her lawyers say she is a resident.
Prince Andrew’s family put on a united front as they were spotted for the first time since the conviction of the Duke of York’s close friend Ghislaine Maxwell for sex trafficking. The Duchess of York linked arms with her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie and their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank as they took a stroll in the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Verbier yesterday
The five yesterday (left to right, Edo, Beatrice, Duchess of York, Eugenie and Jack), appeared to be in good spirits despite the growing scandal surrounding the Duke of York’s association with sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre
Prince Andrew is pictured with the Duchess and their children in Verbier back in 2001
Prince Andrew was seen for the first time on Friday since his friend Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking
Virginia Giuffre – the woman who claims she was forced to sleep with Prince Andrew when she was 17 – could be set to give a victim impact statement to a New York judge for the sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell. She is pictured with her lawyer, David Boies
The last year saw Eugenie welcome her first child August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, who is 11th in line to the throne, with Jack on February 9 at London’s Portland Hospital. Princess Eugenie shared photo highlights of 2021 including unseen snaps of August’s christening amid growing pressure on Prince Andrew
The royal also posted sweet selfies taken with husband Jack, who she wed in a ceremony at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in October 2018
Eugenie, whose son was named after Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99 this year, shared a picture of her son August as a newborn
In the cover page of a lawsuit in September 2015, Giuffre listed her address as Penrose, Colorado.
In the cover letter of an April 2019 lawsuit, she listed her address as Palm Cove, Australia, and marked a box as ‘citizen or subject of a foreign country.’
But in her lawsuit against the prince, she listed her address as Ocean Reef, Western Australia, but checked a box that said ‘citizen of another state.’
Kaplan’s order expressed no opinion on the merits of the prince’s claims that Giuffre should be disqualified from suing because she lives in Australia.
Oral arguments via a video teleconference on the prince’s request to dismiss the case are scheduled for Monday morning.
In October, the prince’s lawyers attacked the lawsuit on multiple grounds, saying Giuffre had made false claims against Andrew because he ‘never sexually abused or assaulted’ her.
‘Giuffre has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him.
Epstein’s abuse of Giuffre does not justify her public campaign against Prince Andrew,’ the written arguments said.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, 60, was convicted Wednesday of charges including sex trafficking and conspiracy after a month-long trial.
