The Duke of York “cannot hide behind wealth and palace walls” and must respond to sexual abuse allegations filed in a US court, his accuser’s lawyer said.

Prince Andrew should allow a jury to decide what happened, David Boies, the lawyer of Virginia Giuffre, said.

Ms Giuffre has filed a civil case in New York alleging the duke sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Mr Boies said Ms Giuffre had “tried every way she can to resolve this short of litigation”.

He said Ms Giuffre – who was an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – now wants a judge and jury to hear the evidence.

Mr Boies added that “at this point litigation is the only way to establish once and for all what the truth is – and litigation is the only way to establish once and for all what Prince Andrew’s evidence actually is”.

The lawyer said people “ignore the courts at your peril” and that “it would be very ill-advised for Prince Andrew to ignore the judicial process”.

“If he does, it will be a default judgement against him that will be, in effect, enforced not only in the United States, but in virtually every civilised country in the world,” he said.

Mr Boies said Ms Giuffre intends to send a message to rich and powerful men that the alleged behaviour “is not acceptable and that you cannot hide behind wealth and power and palace walls”.

He said she wanted to be compensated for damage she said was done to her and donate money to a charitable foundation to help victims of sex trafficking.

But asked what figure he had in mind, he said that was for a jury to decide – but they would seek compensatory and punitive damages and he believed each would be “substantial”.

The civil proceedings taking place in New York will proceed even if the duke and his legal team do not engage. Prince Andrew does not face the prospect of an extradition hearing as this only applies to criminal charges and not civil cases.