Queen orders Prince Andrew to return all royal and military titles
Britain’s Prince Andrew must return all his military and royal titles to the Queen, Buckingham Palace has announced, and he will no longer be officially addressed as His Majesty. This comes just a day after a US court ruled that the Duke of York could be tried for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old woman.
Virginia Giffre, who has also filed charges against now-deceased sex offender and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, claims she was sexually assaulted by Andrew in London and in New York in 2001. Andrew’s lawyers said the case should be dismissed, citing an agreement she signed with Epstein in 2009, for which she received $500,000. A New York judge ruled yesterday that the deal does not include Andrew.
“With the approval and consent of the Queen, the military titles and royal patronage of the Duke of York have been returned to the Queen. “The Duke of York will not take on any public duties in the future and will defend himself in the case as a private citizen,” Buckingham Palace said.
Queen Elizabeth II’s second son has repeatedly denied the allegations. In an interview with the BBC in 2019, he said that he does not remember ever meeting Giffre and that he did not have sex with her.
