Prince Charles spotted heading to Balmoral ahead of awkward talks with Andrew over ‘rape’ accusation

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Prince Charles has been pictured heading to Royal Deeside where he could be set for an awkward encounter with Prince Andrew after the Duke of York was hit with a bombshell lawsuit accusing him of rape earlier this week.

Prince Charles was accompanied by his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as senior royals congregate at The Queen’s Scottish estate in Balmoral, Aberdeenshire in the wake of the sex abuse allegations lobbied against disgraced Prince Andrew.

Charles had previously warned Andrew would be consigned to the wilderness – whatever the outcome of the lawsuit he now faces – because of the reputational damage done by his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The future king is among the senior royals who have privately expressed concern over the handling of the Duke of York’s latest legal crisis as it emerged it could overshadow the Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee. 

The Prince of Wales had been touring Scotland as part of his latest round of royal engagements, but is understood to be heading to his Birkhall estate, next to Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, with the family facing fresh crisis. 

A source told The Times: ‘The prince loves his brother and has the ability to have sympathy for the slings and arrows that his brother endures, whatever the reasons may be.’

The source added: ‘However, this will be unwelcome reputational damage to the institution.

‘He has long ago concluded that it is probably an unsolvable problem.’

The Daily Mail understands that both Charles and Prince William have doubts about the way such serious allegations have been dealt with by Andrew and his legal team.

More than 48 hours after Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s attorney in the US began civil proceedings accusing the 61-year-old royal of ‘rape in the first degree’, sexual battery and sexual abuse, there has been no reaction from Andrew’s camp.

On Monday, Prince Andrew arrived in Balmoral for a summer holiday with the Queen – just 24 hours after a bombshell US lawsuit accused him of sex abuse.

The beleaguered royal and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, drove into the monarch’s private Scottish estate for their annual August jaunt while his lawyers held crisis talks over the case launched by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

She alleged she was sexually abused by Andrew when she was 17 and that he knew she was the teenage victim of sex trafficking.

Miss Roberts claims she was forced to have sex with him and was ‘lent out for sexual purposes’ by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Yesterday a lawyer described the legal action as a ‘grenade waiting to go off’. 

Andrew, 61, has yet to make any public comment about the lawsuit and instead travelled to Scotland with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

The Queen’s second son stepped back from royal duties over his relationship with late financier Epstein and insiders said the lawsuit effectively ended any ambition he held of a return to public life.

Andrew, who normally flies to Aberdeen by private jet for his visits to Balmoral, appeared to have taken steps to avoid photographers this time after apparently flying to a different airport, or even driving the whole way.

Legal experts said the civil case could drag on for years and threatened to be a millstone around his – and the Royal Family’s – neck for years to come.

A US lawyer warned the lawsuit would be devastating for the prince’s reputation and could force him to answer questions about his own sexual history, as well as his relationship with Epstein.

Miss Roberts’ legal team could interrogate Andrew over whether he had faced any allegation of sexual misconduct or impropriety in the past, a US lawyer told the Daily Mail.

They would also be entitled to demand access to any communications between him, Epstein and the convicted sex offender’s alleged ‘madam’, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. The lawyer, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It will be a train wreck for him. This case is a grenade waiting to go off.’

Andrew has 21 days to respond to Miss Roberts’ claim and if he fails to do so, she could ask the court to find in her favour without the need for a trial, which would be potentially disastrous for his reputation.

It would raise the prospect of the ninth in line to the throne being branded a sex offender, and facing a demand for damages which could run into millions of pounds.

Such an outcome would cause enormous personal distress to the 95-year-old Queen but would also leave an indelible ‘stain’ on the reputation of the Royal Family, according to one royal expert.

Last night Buckingham Palace declined to comment and referred all inquiries to the Duke of York’s legal team.

In the legal claim, lawyers said Epstein, Maxwell and the prince had all forced Miss Roberts to have sex with Andrew against her will after she was trafficked to London.

They alleged Andrew also sexually abused the teenager at Epstein’s mansion in New York and at his private island in the US Virgin Islands, Little Saint James.

The legal document, filed to a court in New York, said Miss Roberts, now 38 and a married mother-of-three known by her married name Virginia Giuffre, had suffered ‘severe and lasting’ damage.

The lawsuit went on: ‘In this country no person, whether president or prince, is above the law, and no person, no matter how powerless or vulnerable, can be deprived of the law’s protection.

‘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.’

Miss Roberts’ lawyer David Boies told Channel 4 News he had made repeated attempts to contact Andrew about the case, but claimed the prince and his lawyers had ‘stonewalled’ and ignored him.

Mr Boies said: ‘We’ve made every effort to reach out to him to hear his side of the story to understand whether he has anything that he can say that would put his actions in context.

‘And he has simply ignored us, and he can do that, but he can’t ignore judicial process.

‘This is now a matter for the courts to decide. And it would be very ill advised I think for anyone to sort of thumb their nose at a federal court. If he did, obviously there would be a default judgment entered against him, which I think no one really wants to have happen.’

He added: ‘They just have totally stonewalled, they have refused to provide any explanation, they refuse to engage in any discussions, they refuse to provide any facts. They’ve even refused to respond to any of the allegations that been made in any reasonable way.’

Referring to the now-infamous photograph of the prince with his arm around Miss Roberts, he said a jury would have to consider if Andrew had been truthful about whether they had met. Her case is a civil lawsuit seeking unspecified damages – not a criminal case.

But experts warned evidence uncovered during civil proceedings could potentially be used by criminal authorities.

Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing and strongly maintained his innocence, claiming to have no recollection of having ever met Miss Roberts.

Prince Charles, 72, and William, 39, were instrumental in forcing Andrew to step back from royal duties in 2019 in the wake of the disastrous BBC interview he gave in an attempt to clear his name. 

A royal insider told the Mail yesterday: ‘The family find themselves in an extraordinarily difficult and sensitive situation given the nature of the allegations.

‘They are limited in what they can say publicly and now that the Duke of York is no longer a working royal they are actually rather limited in what control they can exert over the situation privately.’

Last night, sources close to the prince’s family expressed growing frustration with his legal team for the policy of continued silence.

The duke is said to have personally instructed criminal defence solicitor Gary Bloxsome, of City firm Blackfords, to help mastermind his response to Miss Roberts’ allegations. 

Mr Bloxsome, a 40-year veteran of the company, has defended British troops against war crimes allegations, as well as footballers in assault cases.

However, a source close to Andrew’s family told the Mail yesterday: ‘We are beginning to question the tactics of Blackfords. 

Not to put out a statement reiterating or expanding on his denial may work in a restricted, legal sense, but in the court of public opinion his reputation is being shredded.’

Miss Roberts’ attorney, David Boies, revealed that he anticipates the case could be heard in New York as early as the ‘middle of next year’. 

The Queen, 95, is due to celebrate her historic Platinum Jubilee with a series of major public celebrations in June.

Asked if he felt the lawsuit would be enough to get the ninth in line to the throne to answer questions about the allegations, Mr Boies told Sky News: ‘Prince Andrew is going to have to now. He can’t ignore the process.’

Mr Boies has previously accused Andrew and his legal team of ‘stonewalling’ both Miss Roberts and the FBI, which is investigating the crimes of Andrew’s friend Epstein. The prince has said he has offered to co-operate with FBI.

Mr Boies also confirmed new evidence and new witness statements will form part of their case when it comes to court for trial, which he believes will throw further doubt on the Duke of York’s account.

It is believed he was referring to Johanna Sjoberg, the only other woman to have publicly accused Andrew of sexual misconduct.   

Sources have denied claims Andrew was summoned by his mother for crisis talks.

The lawsuit – filed on Roberts’ 38th birthday – claims that she was ‘loaned’ to the British royal and forced to have sex with Andrew three times on the orders of Epstein, fearing she would be killed if she disobeyed.

Ms Sjoberg, now 43, had previously been unable to sue because of the amount of time since the alleged attack. But a pending US law change could now allow her to bring her ­allegations to court.  

In her civil lawsuit filed in New York on Monday, Miss Roberts – who has accused Andrew of having sex with her on three occasions when she was aged 17, knowing that she had been trafficked by Epstein – claims his actions amounted to ‘rape in the first degree’. 

He has 21 days to respond and if he fails to do so, she could ask the court to find in her favour without a trial.

It would raise the prospect of Andrew facing demands for damages. 

But if he does decide to come out fighting he could face having to give an account of his dealings with Epstein, as well as his previous sexual history.

Lawyers could also demand access to any communications with Epstein, as well as their mutual friend Ghislaine Maxwell.

She is due to go on trial later this year for allegedly acting as his ‘madam’ and helping to traffick vulnerable young victims.

But the prince can – and this is the most likely option for his team – also ask the court to dismiss the case as groundless or try to challenge it on other legal grounds. 

Virginia Roberts on Monday filed a civil suit against Prince Andrew, formally accusing him of sexually abusing her while she was being trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Over 15 pages of court documents filed at New York’s southern district court, the 38-year-old makes claims that the Duke of York ‘committed sexual assault and battery’ against her while she was aged just 17.

The Duke of York has always vehemently denied all charges made by Roberts. 

Roberts has requested ‘punitive damages’ be awarded by a judge and demanded a ‘trial by jury’ for the ‘physical, psychological’ injuries she says she suffered.