Photos of the smiling 61-year-old prince emerged days after he was reportedly “incredibly stressed” ahead of the hearing in his January 4 sexual assault case.

Prince Andrew is seen joking as his lawyers prepare to launch a final attempt on Monday to have his sexual abuse case dismissed.

The Duke of York was seen riding a horse on the estate near the Queen’s Windsor Castle home, chuckling with two employees of the palace stables.

His new Hollywood star lawyer Andrew Brettler is in place to meet the deadline set by a New York court by the end of the day, responding to allegations the Duke sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in 2001.

However, Andrew is still expected to be forced to face a civil lawsuit in the United States against his accuser Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with the royal three times in 2001. .

Ms Giuffre, now 38, was reportedly trafficked around the world by Andrew’s late pedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in a jail cell last year while he was waiting his trial for a catalog of sex crimes.

The Duke’s legal team previously called her a money thief pursuing the Queen’s son “for another salary at his expense”.

Ms Giuffre accused the Duke of sexually assaulting her at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion as well as on his private Caribbean island, Epstein, and at the London home of his lover Ghislaine Maxwell who is currently in a New York prison in pending charges of sexual abuse and grooming.

She seeks damages for emotional harm and distress which could run into the millions of pounds if successful.

A spectator who saw the Duke on horseback on Monday said: ‘Considering he faces a civil lawsuit over very serious allegations, it seemed like he didn’t care about the world.

“He was laughing and joking with his riding mates and having fun.”

US Judge Lewis Kaplan will review the prosecution’s two arguments for the last time on January 4 and is expected to request a trial next fall.

Sources close to the Duke revealed that he had recently “stayed up late” and “worked on US time” to speak to his California-based lawyers.

Preparations for the Duke’s case have also been marred by internal feuds between his British lawyer Gary Bloxsome and Mr Brettler, allegedly due to a “serious clash of personalities”.

Mr Brettler was reportedly “totally unimpressed with the situation” when he was hired at the eleventh hour in October after Andrew failed to dismiss the abuse allegations against him, sources have revealed.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Sunday that Prince Andrew had had ‘little to no discussion’ about his legal issues with members of the Royal Family, including the 95-year-old Queen who agreed to pay her very expensive legal bills. .

Until recently, Andrew had “remained totally convinced” that he would still be able to join Her Majesty and the rest of the family for the public celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

But determined Royal Assistants will not appear at any public event or join them on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for an RAF flypast.

The prince has always denied Ms Giuffre’s claims and in 2019 told BBC Two’s Newsnight: “I can absolutely tell you categorically that this never happened.”

A spokesperson for Prince Andrew made no comment.