Prince Andrew acknowledges he faces US sex assault lawsuit

Prince Andrew has acknowledged through his lawyer that he's been served with a lawsuit by a U.S. woman who says he sexually assaulted her

NEW YORK -- Prince Andrew has acknowledged through his lawyer that he has been served with a lawsuit by a U.S. woman who says he sexually assaulted her, clearing a hurdle that had stalled legal proceedings for several weeks.

The acknowledgment was confirmed in a joint agreement signed by a lawyer for the British prince, approved by a Manhattan federal judge and entered into the public court record Tuesday.

The court papers said Andrew had been challenging acceptance of the lawsuit until lawyers spoke by phone on Sept. 21. An agreement was signed three days later, according to the order signed by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

In the lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre claims Andrew abused her on multiple occasions in 2001 when she was under 18. His lawyer has called the allegations “baseless.”