Lawyer In Celebrity's Cannibalistic Sex Case Reps Prince Andrew

NEW YORK CITY — Armie Hammer's attorney in his cannibalism- linked sex abuse case represented Prince Andrew Monday in a hearing over charges the member of Britain's royal family sexually abused a 17-year-old in Jeffrey Epstein's New York City mansion.

During the pre-trial teleconference, Attorney Andrew Brettler — currently representing former "Saturday Night Live" star Horatio Sanz and Hammer, the "Social Network" actor who faces charges of rape, physical and emotional abuse — challenged the legality of summonses served to the Duke of York and the entire civil suit filed by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged Epstein survivor, in Manhattan's federal court.

"The duke has not been properly served," said Brettler. "We have significant concerns about the propriety of this suit."

Prince Andrew has reportedly spent the past weeks dodging the summons — including making a 500-mile dash to Queen Elizabeth’s Scottish castle — which Giuffre's attorneys said was finally accepted by a Head of Security at the Royal Lodge on Aug. 27, Manhattan federal court records show.

Giuffre's attorney David Boies noted during the Monday hearing that his legal team complied with the Hague Convention when serving various copies of the legal documents.

"We transmitted a complaint to any lawyers who we were aware of," Boies said. "We proceeded to serve Prince Andrew in several ways pursuant to article 10 of the Hague Convention...We don't think the court should wait."

Brettler said the United Kingdom's high court should be given a chance to rule on the validity of the service, but this argument was flatly rejected by Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan.

"I'm sure you know the Hague Convention is optional," Kaplan replied. "I reject your argument that the Hague Convention has to be exhausted."

Kaplan set a Sept. 30 deadline for both parties to file motions addressing the summons and scheduled a hearing for Oct. 13 at 10 a.m.

Brettler also demanded a sealed Epstein settlement — which paid more than $121 million to 135 people — would clear the prince from liability and requested a copy from Giuffre's attorneys.

Boies called this discovery request "premature" considering Brettler had not yet acknowledged his client had been served.

Giuffre’s attorneys allege the prince and his attorneys also dodged invitations to negotiate out of court and refused to help U.S. authorities in their investigation of Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.

Prince Andrew refuted Giuffre’s allegations but cannot deny a well-documented friendship with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of recruited underage girls for him and awaiting trial in Brooklyn’s federal court.

Giuffre has accused the Duke of York of abusing her in Epstein's many homes across the U.S., including a mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

"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,” the complaint states.

“It is long past the time for him to be held to account."

This story was updated at 1:05 p.m. to reflect Andrew Brettler's appearance on behalf of Prince Andrew and at 4:30 p.m. to include reporting from the hearing.