Prince Andrew is to face a civil case in the US over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17.
Virginia Giuffre is suing the prince, claiming he abused her in 2001.
His lawyers said the complaint should be dismissed, citing a 2009 deal she signed with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But a New York judge ruled the case could continue.
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 aĀ 46-page decisionĀ 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 in court later this year.
Judge Kaplan said his ruling did not determine the ātruth or falsityā of Ms Giuffreās complaint.
Ms Giuffre said she was āpleasedā that Prince Andrewās attempt to dismiss the case had been denied and āthat evidence will now be taken concerning her claims against himā.
A statement issued by her lawyer, David Boies, added: āShe looks forward to a judicial determination of the merits of those claims.ā
In court documents, Ms Giuffre said she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by late billionaire financier Epstein.
Part of her abuse involved being lent out to other powerful men, she alleges.
Prince Andrew, the Queenās second son, saidĀ in an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019Ā that he had no recollection of ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, and her account of them having sex in the US and UK ādidnāt happenā.
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 āpotential defendantā as defined by the agreement and the case should be thrown out.
Ms Giuffreās lawyer said only the parties of the settlement agreement could benefit from it, and not a āthird partyā.
In his decision, Judge Kaplan dismissed Prince Andrewās contention that the case against him was ālegally insufficientā and could not go on to be heard at a future trial.
He said the court was not able to consider at this stage whether Prince Andrew was covered by the settlement agreement, describing it as āambiguousā.
He said his ruling did not consider the ādefendantās efforts to cast doubt on the truth of Ms Giuffreās allegations, even though his efforts would be permissible at trialā.
Judge Kaplan added: āIn a similar vein and for similar reasons, it is not open to the court now to decide, as a matter of fact, just what the parties to the release in the 2009 settlement agreement signed by Ms Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein actually meant.ā
Prince Andrewās lawyers could potentially launch an appeal against Judge Kaplanās decision ā although they would need his permission to do so, and legal commentators say the wording of his decision suggests it would not be granted.
Ms Giuffre filed a civil case in New York in August 2021 under the stateās Child Victims Act, which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue a case which otherwise would have been barred because too much time had passed.
Now 38, she says the three alleged instances of abuse by Prince Andrew continue to cause her āsignificant emotional and psychological distress and harmā.
Prince AndrewĀ withdrew from public duties soonĀ after his 2019 appearance on Newsnight. He used the interview to reiterate his denials of Ms Giuffreās claims and explain his one-time friendship with Epstein and the financierās girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
One of Ms Giuffreās allegations is that Prince Andrew abused her at the London home of Maxwell,Ā who in December was convicted by a jury in New YorkĀ of procuring teenage girls for Epstein.