Prince Andrew’s losses all military titles by Queen Elizabeth II, due to sex abuse lawsuit
The military affiliations and royal patronages of Prince Andrew were withdrawn by Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, a day after a federal judge in New York declined to dismiss a sexual abuse complaint filed by an American woman against him.
“The Duke of York’s military associations and Royal patronages have been restored to The Queen with The Queen’s assent and agreement. The Duke of York will continue to refuse to perform any public functions and is defending himself as a private person in this dispute “Buckingham Palace issued a statement.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 38, claims that Andrew, 61, the queen’s second son, raped and sexually assaulted her in New York in 2001 when she was 17. She believes that Andrew’s friend Jeffery Epstein arranged for her to be trafficked to him, and that the prince was aware of it.
The drive to distance Andrew from his treasured military ties has been in the works for some time, but it gained momentum in recent weeks as the civil complaint in New York proceeded despite Andrew’s lawyers’ best efforts to have it dismissed.
The monarch bestows honorary military associations and royal patronages on several prominent members of the royal family as part of the duty of being a royal.
Andrew was a pilot in the Royal Navy and saw action in the Falklands War in 1982, when he was hailed as a hero by many royal admirers.
Following the outcome of the lawsuit, British military leaders publicly and privately protested to the media that their ties with the prince were embarrassing and untenable.
In an open letter published in The Guardian, more than 150 military veterans begged the queen to remove Andrew from his honorary military responsibilities, expressing their “upset and fury.” The palace refused to comment on the letter on Thursday, according to the monarchy-critical newspaper.
A statement from Buckingham Palace regarding The Duke of York: pic.twitter.com/OCeSqzCP38
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 13, 2022
