According to the BBC, Prince Andrew’s team does not believe legal papers from lawyers for the woman who has accused him of sexual abuse have been successfully served.

Virginia Giuffre, who launched a civil case against the prince in New York, is legally obligated to provide relevant papers to the adversarial legal team before a trial can proceed. However, Andrew’s camp is reporting those papers never came.

In a classic case of he-says/she-says, Ms. Giuffre’s lawyers said the allegedly missing documents were left with a police officer outside Andrew’s home in Windsor; Prince Andrew denies all the claims of Ms. Giuffre.

On Monday, a New York judge will be tasked with determining whether the papers have in fact been “served” before any case can begin.

BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said: “Clearly, Prince Andrew has not been making himself available to receive these papers so it will all now have to be decided by a judge in New York on Monday – whether they’ve been served, whether the court case can continue.”

An accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, Ms. Giuffre claims she was brought to the UK at the young age of 17 to have sex with Prince Andrew.

The court, which is civil rather than criminal, will decide whether her allegations are true – and whether the duke should pay damages.

Speaking to the BBC about Ms. Giuffre’s allegations in 2019, Prince Andrew said they “never happened”.

“It didn’t happen. I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever,” he told BBC Newsnight.

Tell us if you think the court documents were served, or if you suspect the prince is deploying a disgusting stall tactic to prevent the trial from beginning.

God save the Queen – from her crazy family.