Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie won't have to take stand in father's sex abuse case

Lawyers have said that Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and their daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will not be forced to testify in the sex abuse case against him, contrary to recent reports that claimed they could potentially be deposed.

Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer of Jeffrey Epstein's victims, had previously said that Andrew exposed Fergie, Beatrice, and Eugenie to a deposition when he mentioned their names in his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, which also led to his exit from his duties as a senior royal. In the interview, the royal had claimed that he was at Pizza Express in Woking with his eldest daughter Beatrice on the night that Virginia Giuffre claims he was with her.

Sources close to the royals said they had been bracing themselves in case a family member, particularly Beatrice, is called to court as a key witness. However, Giuffre's legal counsel revealed to The Telegraph that they are not interested in reaching out to the royals.

As per the report, the Duchess of York and her daughters might be spared from taking the stand if the case goes to trial, but there are two Brits who could be deposed. Giuffre's lawyers plan to seek depositions from Robert Olney, the Duke's former equerry, and Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen Andrew at Tramp nightclub in London on the night he is alleged to have forced Giuffre to have sex with him.

The lawyers believe that Olney might have some information about Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as his name had appeared in the convicted paedophile's "little black book."

It is still considered good news for the monarchy as no other member of the family would be required to attend court due to the Duke of York. The fresh revelation comes soon after Giuffre's lawyer David Boies suggested that they could even depose Andrew's older brother Prince Charles in the case.

Apart from Olney and Walker, Giuffre's legal team is considering to depose three other witnesses- Johanna Sjoberg, Steve Scully, and Anthony Figueroa, reports The Sun. Sjoberg, who used to work as Epstein's personal assistant, had claimed that Andrew groped her breasts when she was 21-years-old and was sitting on a sofa with him and Giuffre.

Scully worked as a handyman for Epstein, and claimed he saw the Duke of York on the late convict's "paedo island" and even witnessed him sexually assaulting Giuffre. The third potential witness is Anthony Figueroa, Giuffre's boyfriend at the time who claimed she confided in him 20 years ago about the alleged abuse and was "scared" of what Maxwell and Epstein made her do with Andrew.