Legal

Royal courtiers fear the Duke of York is being failed by the strategy pursued by his London-based legal team, amid growing concern that his “wall of silence” is increasingly damaging the monarchy. There is widespread unease about the tactics employed since he was accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old, which increasingly appear to have backfired. Prince Andrew, 61, is “stressed” and “worried” and there is a distinct change of mood in his camp, sources admit, as the pressure to respond to the allegations intensifies and he faces the prospect of a legal battle that could drag on for years, costing millions. A royal source told The Telegraph: “There is growing disquiet over the advice being given to the Duke by his London legal team in the face of this potentially highly damaging lawsuit which also has wider reputational implications for the institution of the monarchy. “The legal team’s wall of silence and policy of evasion only adds to the impression [that] the Duke has …

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The judge in the Duke of York’s court case has ruled that he can legally be served the sex assault lawsuit via his American lawyer. The decision negated the need to abide by the Hague Convention as the Duke had appointed counsel based in the US, said Lewis Kaplan, the New York federal judge. However, the Duke’s lawyers continue to insist he must be served under the terms of the Convention. In a separate development on Friday, the Duke was given one week to challenge a High Court decision to accept a request to serve the papers on behalf of his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. It came as David Boies, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer, warned him to accept the lawsuit, saying: “Service is not intended to be a game of hide and seek behind palace walls.” ‘Dramatic shift in mood’ The Duke’s “bullish” attitude towards the case is said to have shifted in recent days as he faces the prospect of a legal battle that could drag on for years and cost millions of pounds. He had been …

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Prince Andrew has been holding ‘crisis talks’ with his inner circle about ditching his legal team over its ‘shambolic’ handling of his sex abuse lawsuit, it has been reported. The Duke of York is said to be unhappy at their refusal to issue a public statement in response to the allegations levelled by Virginia Giuffre. She is suing the Queen’s son claiming she was trafficked by Andrew’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law. The civil case could drag on for years, racking up legal bills into the millions. Andrew has vehemently denied the allegations. He hired criminal defence solicitor Gary Bloxsome, a partner at Blackfords law firm, early last year. The duke is said to have urged his legal team to put out a statement refuting Ms Giuffre’s claims shortly after she filed her lawsuit last month, but that request is thought to have been overruled. A source close to Andrew told …

[Read more...] about Prince Andrew ‘extremely worried’ about legal team’s ‘shambolic’ strategy

Andrew has held crisis talks with his inner circle over dismissing his legal team, sources claim. The Duke of York is understood to be dissatisfied with their strategy of not publicly responding to damaging sex assault claims as he battles to save his battered reputation. His accuser Virginia Giuffre is pursuing him through the courts after launching a civil case against him in the US, alleging she was forced to have sex with him in 2001 while allegedly being trafficked by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein Andrew, 61, fears he could face a legal bill reaching millions of pounds in a legal battle that could drag on for years. Virginia Giuffre is pursuing the royal through the civil courts ( Image: REX/Shutterstock) He hired criminal defence solicitor Gary Bloxsome, a partner at Blackfords law firm, early last year – just weeks after his disastrous Newsnight interview over his friendship with billionaire Epstein. When Ms Giuffre launched her civil …

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Cops are continuing to search for a missing YouTuber amid fears she’s vanished in a “zone of death” where killers can escape punishment. Gabby Petito, 22, was on a road trip around the US with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, 23, when she disappeared last Tuesday. Authorities including the FBI and police in Florida are carrying out a desperate search for Gabby, who last spoke to her family from Grand Teton National Park on August 25. Brian Laundrie is a person of interest in the case but hasn’t been located by officials, reports news.au . The area where Gabby went missing is one of the most remote areas of the US and was the subject of an academic paper called ‘The Perfect Crime’. Written by law professor Brian Kalt, the research claims “there is a 50-square-mile swath of Idaho in which one might be able to commit felonies with impunity.” It’s known as the “zone of death” because a constitutional glitch means the land is part Idaho and part …

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Mindy Kaling better watch her ass, because Jennifer Coolidge is a-comin’. “I’m gonna corner her,” Coolidge said after Karamo Brown told her the Legally Blonde 3 co-writer was in attendance. Brown was working the red carpet for E! News and asked Coolidge what her hopes and dreams were for the long-awaited concluding chapter in the Elle Woods trilogy. Kaling and Brooklyn Nine-Nine ’s Dan Goor were announced as the writers of the three-quel last year. Reese Witherspoon is already confirmed as returning, but Coolidge hasn’t heard diddly squat about what her character will be up to in this installment. “I hope that Reese and I are running really fast for most of it,” Coolidge said. “We’re running from something, really fast.” From what? Mediocre men? Brunettes? A Honey I Blew Up The Kid- ified Bruiser? That sounds like Mindy Kaling’s problem, not Jennifer Coolidge’s. …

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On Culkin's new lifestyle website, BunnyEars.com, fans can vote for the name until Dec. 24 Advertisement Macaulay Culkin is changing his name — and he wants your help. On The Tonight Show , the former Home Alone star, 38, told Jimmy Fallon that he is swapping out his middle name Carson for a sillier moniker. On Culkin’s new lifestyle website, BunnyEars.com , fans can vote for the name until Dec. 24. Get push notifications with news, features and more. + Follow Following You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. “I was staring at my passport recently and stuff, and I was looking over my middle name,” Culkin told Fallon. “And I felt like, you know, I should probably spruce up my name a little bit.” “We’ve narrowed it down to five options,” Culkin commened. “I’ve been polling friends, family, everything.” RELATED: Macaulay Culkin Tweets at J.K. Rowling Asking Her to …

[Read more...] about Macaulay Culkin Vows to Legally Change His Name to Something Ridiculous — Like ‘Shark Week’

SIR – I am astonished at the negative reception given to the Prime Minister’s announcement of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 ( Letters, February 7 ). Britain has always had the ability to lead the way and, freed from the shackles of the European Union and with a Conservative Party no longer riven by the European issue and enjoying a thumping parliamentary majority, I see no reason why this plan should not succeed. Banning is not usually the preferred way of doing things, but we are in a crisis that needs to be tackled sooner rather than later. Tracy Campbell SIR – The making of a new vehicle, however much better for the environment it may be, creates more pollution than an old, polluting car would ever make in its lifetime. If the Government were really serious about the climate, it would ban the manufacture of all new vehicles of any kind, and ban the importing of new ones, too. Encouraging the motor industry to retrofit older vehicles with …

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Only five months into his new job as head of the energy regulator Ofgem, Jonathan Brearley was already provoking fury among some of the sector’s most powerful companies. Scottish Power declared he had “flunked his first big test” with his draft plans in July to slash network operators’ returns and limit spending, which would drag Britain “back to austerity”, while National Grid warned of blackouts. Fast-forward to December and the 47-year old has just handed operators his final decision – budging only an inch to allow for 4.3pc returns (40pc below current) and £30bn spending. Relaxed even as he has yet to find out if any plan to appeal against his decision, Brearley is confident he made the right call. “It is more investment for roughly the same price. This requires them to perform efficiently and effectively. I think it is robust.” The tussle around the five-yearly price controls is likely to be just a taste of the battles ahead as Brearley tackles the huge challenge of …

[Read more...] about Ofgem chief: ‘Net zero is the goal. We must make it happen’

National Grid should be stripped of one of its core powers, the energy regulator has said, in a bid to help the UK reach its net zero carbon emissions target. Ofgem believes a new independent body should take charge of balancing electricity supply and demand, as it would be better placed to foster more wind power, solar power and electric cars. Its recommendation has been passed to a government review which will decide whether National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) should be split off from the rest of the group, having already been spun into a legally separate entity in 2019. The ESO is a small part of the the FTSE 100 company financially but gives it an important and prestigious role in keeping the lights on. It faced questions during the August 2019 national power cuts over how well equipped it was to manage a system that has increasing amounts of intermittent power, from wind and solar. The cost of balancing the system has already risen, from £868.4m in 2016 to …

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