Prince Andrew will have to leave 'Balmoral hideaway' to see daughter Beatrice in hospital

Prince Andrew has been successfully evading papers in his sex abuse case by hiding at his mother Queen Elizabeth II's Balmoral home. However, he will have to leave the Scottish estate soon if he wants to see his heavily pregnant daughter.

Andrew's eldest daughter Princess Beatrice is expecting to welcome her first child very soon. She was admitted to a hospital in London on Friday, where her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is believed to be with her. Andrew will have to leave his Balmoral hideaway and make a 500-mile dash if he wants to be with his daughter in the hospital when she welcomes her baby who will be his second grandchild, reports The Sun.

A Balmoral insider said that the 61-year-old doesn't want to leave the legal protection he gets by staying in the same property as his mother, but he will likely make an exception for his daughter as she has always been his priority. "Prince Andrew obviously hasn't wanted to leave Balmoral when lawyers are still trying to serve the lawsuit papers but his daughter comes first and he will want to be there for her," the source said.

"He could end up staying on the estate and waiting for Beatrice to come to him once she's given birth. But I'm sure he will want to go to her," the insider added.

The trip will mean that the lawyers representing Virginia Giuffre in her sexual abuse case against the royal will have an opportunity to serve him papers. The Duke of York not being properly served has been the biggest argument of his lawyers in the case.

The British royal recently suffered a huge legal setback when the High Court in London gave his legal team only seven days to challenge its decision to allow them to notify him about the case on the New York court's behalf. The request was made to the UK court by Giuffre's attorneys under the Hague Service Convention - a treaty that governs requests between countries for evidence in civil or commercial matters. However, Andrew's lawyers claim that the plaintiff's team does not have the authority to approach the High Court.

Giuffre has accused Andrew of having sex with her when she was only 17 years old after she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The royal, who had to quit his public duties due to uproar over his association with Epstein, has vehemently denied Giuffre's allegations or any recollection of ever meeting her.