PRINCE Andrew will have to quit his Balmoral hideaway if he wants to see his heavily pregnant daughter in hospital.
Princess Beatrice, 33 years old, was admitted to hospital on Friday. It was believed that her 38-year-old husband Edoardo Mapelli mozzi was there.
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Andrew has been in hiding for some time on the Queen’s 50,000-acre Scottish estate as lawyers try to serve Virginia Giuffre’s sex abuse lawsuit on him.
However, he will likely make the 500-mile trip to see his eldest child who is in a London hospital.
A Balmoral insider said: “Prince Andrew obviously hasn’t wanted to leave Balmoral when lawyers are still trying to serve the lawsuit papers but his daughter comes first and he will want to be there for her.
“He could end up staying on the estate and waiting for Beatrice to come to him once she’s given birth. But I’m sure he will want to go to her.”
Andrew has appeared to play a game of cat and mouse with the legal team acting for Ms Giuffre, formerly Roberts — moving between his home in Windsor and Balmoral to keep out of their way.
According to her lawyers, they had given papers notifying Andrew about the US civil court case in which she was involved in sex. They also delivered papers to his 30-room home at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
They claimed that the documents were left at his Windsor home by police officers and then emailed to his lawyers.
He disputes the claim that they were properly served.
The High Court in London has given Andrew’s legal team seven days to challenge its decision to allow them to notify him about the case on the New York court’s behalf.
Ms Giuffre alleges the Duke of York, 61, sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager and is seeking unspecified damages
Andrew has vehemently and repeatedly denied the allegations.
He claims Ms Giuffre’s attorneys do not have the authority to approach the High Court.
The request by her legal team was made under the Hague Service Convention — a treaty that governs requests between countries for evidence in civil or commercial matters.
The US judge in the case, meanwhile, ruled that Ms Giuffre’s legal team can also try delivering the papers to Andrew’s LA-based lawyer regardless of whether or not the duke has authorised him to accept it.
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