Prince Andrew rejects sexual abuse accuser's 'potentially unlawful' lawsuit -lawyer

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York, looks on during the funeral of Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, who died at the age of 99, on the grounds of Windsor Castle in Windsor, Britain, April 17, 2021. Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S.-based lawyer for Britain's Prince Andrew on Monday forcefully rejected claims in a civil lawsuit by a woman who accused the prince of sexually assaulting her when she was 17, and challenged whether the case could even be brought.

At a hearing in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the prince's lawyer Andrew Brettler also said the plaintiff Virginia Giuffre appeared to have in 2009 signed away her right to sue Queen Elizabeth's second son in resolving a separate lawsuit.