Prince Andrew has been stripped of his military titles as well as his use of His Royal Highness.
The military titles and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen as the royal faces a US civil action lawsuit over sexual assault allegations.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen with her approval, and that the Duke of York would continue to not undertake any public duties. He will be defending himself in the case as a private citizen.
He technically retains his title HRH, but will not use it in any official capacity.
It is a devastating blow to Prince Andrew. It means that Andrew has been completely removed from any official royal life. Military titles meant a lot to the prince, so having them removed has been considered by experts as a particular blow against him.
It came hours after more than 150 military veterans wrote to the Queen asking her to strip him of the honorary military roles. An open letter from members of all of the military services said it was “untenable” for him to retain his military positions, and that if it were any other senior military officer, he would not still be in that post.
Following the news, calls have been made in York for the prince to relinquish his title of Duke of York. The city’s Labour MP also said it was “untenable,” and said the association was ruining the city’s reputation.
The decision to remove his military titles comes a day after New York judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew’s latest efforts to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit against him. Giuffre says that she was forced to have sex with the duke at the age of 17 by his associate, the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
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