Queen Elizabeth II has stripped UK’s Prince Andrew of his military and royal honors, the royal family announced Thursday Evening.
According to a royal communiqué, the Queen approved the removal of honors from Prince Andrew, Duke of York.
Andrew would no longer use the title ‘His Royal Highness’ in any official capacity, according to a royal source, and his other responsibilities would be shared among other members of the Royal family. They would not return to Prince Andrew.
“The Duke of York will continue to refrain from performing any public duties and is defending this case as a private person,” the statement said, referring to Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her as a teenager.
The prince’s lawyer was unsuccessful in persuading US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss Giuffre’s lawsuit on Wednesday. Giuffre, 38, could sue Andrew for battering her and intentionally causing her emotional distress while the late financier Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her, according to the judge.
More than 150 veterans signed an open letter to Queen Elizabeth on Thursday, a day after the decision, demanding that her second son’s military titles be revoked due to his relationship with disgraced late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“We are particularly upset and angry that Prince Andrew remains a member of the armed forces and continues to hold military titles, positions and ranks, including that of Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy,” the letter said.
“We are therefore asking that you take immediate steps to strip Prince Andrew of all his military ranks and titles and, if necessary, that he be dishonorably discharged.”
Andrew has denied Giuffre’s claims that he forced her to have sex at the London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell more than two decades ago, and that he abused her at two Epstein properties.
