A British court dismissed a legal tactic Prince Andrew used to avoid a sex-abuse lawsuit from Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre

• The woman accusing Prince Andrew of sexual abuse can serve him a lawsuit, a UK High Court ruled.
• Prince Andrew's team claimed he did not properly receive Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit the first time.
• A judge ruled Wednesday that Giuffre's lawyers can serve Prince Andrew the legal documents.

A judge in the UK is allowing Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, to serve him with a lawsuit after the royal claimed he didn't receive it properly the first time.

Last week, unsealed court documents revealed that a process server left the legal documents with a police officer at Andrew's address on August 27. The officer promised to forward them to Andrew's team.

Andrew's team then disputed the lawsuit, telling a US court this week that Giuffre had not effectively served his client with the lawsuit, which he referred to as "baseless, non-viable, and possibly unlawful."

His office did not immediately respond to a Insider's request for comment. Andrew denies the allegations against him.

The High Court, whose jurisdiction is in England and Wales, ruled on Wednesday that Giuffre's lawyers could serve Andrew the legal documents, the Daily Mail's Rebecca English reported.

The High Court's move means Andrew may have to formally answer to the lawsuit. Giuffre and her team, who are suing Andrew in New York, have long accused Andrew of ignoring them.

"The legal process has not yet been served but the High Court will now take steps to serve [Andrew] under the convention unless service is arranged by agreement between the parties," the court said, according to English.

The GB News reporter Cameron Walker said the court ruled that Giuffre's team can go ahead with contacting Andrew's lawyers.

The process server who delivered the documents to Andrew's address last month said in court documents he had initially struggled to serve the royal.

The process server said he originally tried to serve Andrew on August 26, but was told that security staff "had been instructed not to allow anyone attending there for the purpose of serving court process onto the grounds of the property."

Giuffre's lawsuit alleged that Andrew sexually abused her on three occasions as part of the deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex-trafficking operation. Giuffre's lawsuit alleged that one of those instances occurred in New York City, where her lawsuit is filed.

A legal expert previously told Insider that as a British citizen living in the UK, Andrew cannot be forced to participate in litigation that occurs in the United States. But Andrew's US assets and ability to travel freely could be at stake, even if he refuses to respond to Giuffre's lawsuit, the expert said.