Meghan Markle may have stepped down from her royal duties, but she may still be deposed as a part of a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew, who has been accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre.
David Boies, an attorney representing Giuffre in the case, told The Daily Beast that his team is "considering" seeking to depose the Duchess of Sussex if the case goes to trial. There has been no suggestion that Meghan was engaged in any wrongdoing and Andrew has denied the allegations against him. Attorneys for Andrew are expected to argue their motion to dismiss the case on Jan. 4.
According to Boies, there are three reasons Meghan could face a potential deposition: "One; she is in the U.S. so we have jurisdiction over her."
"Two; she is somebody who obviously, at least for a period of time, was a close associate of Prince Andrew and hence is in a position to perhaps have seen what he did, and perhaps if not to have seen what he did to have heard people talk about it," he continued. "Because of her past association with him, she may very well have important knowledge, and will certainly have some knowledge."
He added, "Three; she is somebody who we can count on to tell the truth. She checks all three boxes."
The attorney also suggested that he may seek to depose Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and his brother Prince Charles, though getting depositions from non–U.S. citizens, such as members of the British royal family, would be more complex.
"We would likely take one or two depositions of people close to Andrew who would have knowledge of his actions," he explained.
Though Boies has not made a final decision, he did note that his team would not seek a deposition from Andrew's mother, Queen Elizabeth, "out of respect and deference, and her age."
Giuffre has filed a lawsuit against Andrew accusing him of sexually abusing her more than two decades ago when she was 17. In the suit, she claims that Andrew knew that she was being trafficked by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein died on Aug. 10, 2019, of an apparent suicide while in jail while in prison awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Maxwell is currently on trial for six federal counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, to which she pleaded not guilty.
Andrew previously denied Giuffre's allegations in a November 2019 interview with the BBC. "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever," he said at the time. "It just never happened."
Meghan's reps had no comment when reached by E! News.