Prince Andrew relinquishes all military titles and patronage
Prince Andrew will have to face abuse allegations
Actually, Prince Andrew’s lawyers wanted to avert an abuse process at the last second, but the judges rejected the applications. The Queen’s son will face charges. It is unlikely that there will be an out-of-court settlement.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York relinquishes all military titles and patronage after admitted abuse lawsuit. The Queen agreed, according to an official statement.
KQueen Elizabeth II has stripped her son Prince Andrew, who is suspected of abuse in the United States, of all honorary military titles and royal patronage. The move was made “with the Queen’s approval and consent,” Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. The Duke of York will continue to refrain from public engagements and defend himself as a private citizen. According to media reports, he will no longer use the title Royal Highness in public.
Earlier, more than 150 Navy and Army veterans had written to the Queen asking for Andrew to be stripped of all ranks and titles.
They are “upset and angry” that Andrew has discredited the services he is associated with, the letter released by Republic group said.
A plaintiff in the United States accuses Andrew of sexually abusing her several times when she was 17. The son of Queen Elizabeth II was introduced to her by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell, according to a civil lawsuit in August that Virginia Giuffre filed against the prince in the United States. The accused has denied the allegations.
The Queen is the head of the British Armed Forces and awards honorary military titles. Patronages refer to charities, military and civic groups supported by members of the royal family.
The Queen’s second eldest son called off public engagements in 2019 after a BBC interview about his friendship with Epstein. Statements made by the prince in the interview were met with widespread incomprehension and severe criticism. The 61-year-old retained his honorary titles, including Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, to the end.
A U.S. District Judge allowed the lawsuit against Andrew on Wednesday. Andrew’s attorneys had argued the lawsuit was barred because of an agreement Giuffre reached with lawyers for US financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2009, a decade before Epstein committed suicide in Manhattan custody.
Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that there was substantial evidence in the $500,000 settlement that Epstein and Giuffre did not clearly intend the language used in the agreement to benefit someone like the Prince. He noted that Prince Andrew was not a party to the contract. At the same time, he said the agreement was very vague. With this decision, however, he does not judge the truthfulness of the allegations, the judge explained.