Prince Andrew will face a civil sex case trial after a US judge dismissed a motion by Andrew’s legal team to have the lawsuit thrown out.

Virginia Giuffre is suing the Duke of York for alleged sexual assault when she was a teenager

Ms Giuffre is seeking unspecified damages, but there is speculation the sum could be in the millions of dollars.

She claims she was trafficked by disgraced financier Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17 and a minor under US law.

US judge Lewis Kaplan refused to dismiss the case after hearing cases from lawyers of both the Duke and Virginia Giuffre.

The Duke's legal team asked for the lawsuit in New York to be dismissed after Ms Giuffre waived her right to sue when she signed a $500,000 settlement agreement with Epstein.

Ms Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies believes the settlement is “irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew”.

Andrew has not been charged with any criminal offence and vehemently denies the allegations against him.