US judge strikes out Prince Andrew sex claims

Claims that a woman was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are to be struck from the record of a civil case in the US, a judge has said. The Duke of York was named in court papers in Florida by a woman alleging financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times.

But Judge Kenneth Marra said the "lurid" claims were "unnecessary" to decide the civil case.
Buckingham Palace has previously "emphatically" denied the allegations. BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said Judge Marra had expressed no opinion as to the "validity or veracity" of the allegations.

'Immaterial and impertinent'

The duke had been named in documents filed in a Florida court about how prosecutors handled a case against Epstein, a former friend of the royal.
The documents concerned claims by Virginia Roberts, who alleged that Epstein had forced her to have sex with powerful men - including the duke - when she was 17.
Two women - known as Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 - are suing the US government, saying it failed to protect their rights when it entered into a plea deal with Epstein, who spent time in jail in 2008-9 for a sex offence with a minor.
Ms Roberts - known as Jane Doe #3 in the court papers - had been attempting to join the claim against the US government.
But the US judge said Mr Roberts' claims against Prince Andrew were "unnecessary to the determination" of the case.
"The factual details regarding with whom and where the Jane Does engaged in sexual activities are immaterial and impertinent to this central claim," the judge said in a ruling.