Prince Andrew is to face a civil case in the US over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman, Virginia Giuffre when she was 17.
Giuffre is suing the Prince, claiming that he abused her in 2001.
His lawyers said the case should be dismissed, citing a 2009 deal she signed with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But a New York judge ruled that the case could be heard.
The prince has consistently denied the claims.
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on an ongoing legal matter.
The motion to dismiss the lawsuit was outlined in a 46 page decision by Judge Lewis A Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
It means the case against the Duke of York, 61, could be heard later this year.
Justice Kaplan said his ruling did not determine the “truth or falsity” of Ms Giuffre’s complaint.
Ms Giuffre said she was “pleased” that Prince Andrew’s attempt to dismiss the case had been denied by the court and “that evidence will now be taken concerning her claims against him”.
A statement issued by her lawyer, David Boies, added: “She looks forward to a judicial determination of the merits of those claims.”
In court documents, Ms Giuffre maintained that she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by late billionaire financier Epstein.
Among the allegation was lent out to other powerful men.
Prince Andrew, the Queen’s second son, said an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019that he had no recollection of ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, and her account of them having sex in the US and UK “didn’t happen”.
His lawyers had highlighted a court agreement between Ms Giuffre and Epstein in 2009 not to sue anyone else connected to the financier when she settled her damages claim against him.
During a virtual hearing, they said the Duke of York was a “potential defendant” as defined by the agreement and the case “should be dismissed”.
However, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer said only the parties of the settlement agreement could benefit from it, and not a “third party”. BBC