Calls to quit his Military roles over sex allegations grow Iraq hero Col Collins is first senior former officer to speak out
IRAQ war hero Colonel Tim Collins has become the first senior former officer to publicly call on Prince Andrew to give up his honorary military titles.
He said the sex allegations surrounding the Duke of York and his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell were “embarrassing for everyone”.
The former commanding officer of the Royal Irish Regiment – of which Andrew is Colonel-in-chief – also said the royal should “jump before he is pushed”.
Col Collins, 61, whose inspirational eve-of-battle speech to his battalion in 2003 won him worldwide attention, is the first former military chief to comment publicly on the allegations against Andrew – which the Prince denies.
He met the Duke in his honorary role – one of his nine military titles – around the time of the Iraq War.
Col Collins, who also served in the SAS, said the best course of action the Duke could now take to save the Royal Family from further embarrassment is to resign his military titles.
The Belfast-born ex-officer said: “The publicity surrounding [Prince Andrew] is embarrassing for everyone.
“It is entirely up to him and what he decides to do at the end of the day.
Jump
“He will listen to advice from the rest of the royal family, he’s got his own mind, it’s going to be better for everybody if he took the decision and jumped rather than was pushed.
“I don’t think he’ll ever ride the storm out. That is the bottom line because I think that the damage has been done.
“I think it’s a question of timing and I think that he’ll decide to jump or some more senior members of the royal family will say you’ve got to go.
“There is one of two ways this could have gone – you either go immediately and say I’ll clear my name and come back, which is the right thing to do always or try, and tough it out.
“If you tough it out, you better hope to God that you come out of it.
“The most likely outcome, in my opinion, is that he will be cleared and then at that point it will be the right point for him to say, ‘I haven’t been convicted of anything but the detritus around it means that I should make way for a younger royal in respect of the people I am Colonel-in-chief of’.
“I don’t think we will have to wait very many weeks for that to happen.”
Col Collins, who received the OBE from Prince Charles in 2004 for his service in Iraq, was also scathing about Andrew’s disastrous interview on BBC’S Newsnight in 2019.
Andrew is being sued in a US court by Virginia Giuffre, 38, who alleges she was forced to have sex three times with him in 2001 when she was 17, including once in London. The Duke strongly denies all of her allegations.
During the BBC interview, he claimed he could not have sexually assaulted Ms Giuffre – who claims he was sweating profusely as they danced in a London nightclub – because he “doesn’t sweat” and was dining in a pizza restaurant at the time of the alleged offence. Col Collins said: “Every person who I know
I don’t think he will ever ride the storm out – he is
too damaged
who advised him said do not do that BBC interview, do not enter into any litigation and say nothing. “Ninety-nine per cent of people condemn themselves out of their own mouth and he dug a bloody big hole with that interview.”
The Sunday People has also learnt that a serving senior officer is planning to write to Andrew calling on him to give up all his military titles.
A source has claimed that the officer believes the Prince is in denial about the damage he is causing to the reputation of the military. Senior defence sources
also said that there is no support or sympathy for the Duke at the most senior armed forces ranks.
Col Collins spoke out after the Sunday People revealed last week the Queen will reluctantly strip her son of military titles if he does not resign.
Impossible
The move is likely to be a devastating blow to Her Majesty, who was said to be deeply upset after Prince Harry was forced to stand down from his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines last year because he had given up other royal duties. But defence sources say the Army’s most senior commanders believe it is now impossible for the Duke to continue in his role as the Colonel-in-chief of nine military regiments, units and corps.
Andrew currently holds the honorary title of Colonel of the regiment in the Grenadier Guards and is the Colonel-in-chief of the 9/12th Lancers, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Yorkshire Regiment, the Small Arms School Corps and Royal Colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers. He is also Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, Commodore-inhave chief of the Fleet Air Arm and Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps.
The Ministry of Defence and the Palace declined to comment.
Last night Andrew, 61, was anxiously awaiting a ruling from Judge Lewis Kaplan over whether he will face a full civil court case over Ms Giuffre’s allegations.
It was reported yesterday that one of the witnesses in the Maxwell trial claims Ms Giuffre told her she had slept with Andrew in London.
Carolyn Andriano, 35, who waived her right to anonymity, said Ms Giuffre texted her from London in March 2001 to say she was going for dinner with
Andrew, Maxwell and Epstein. She also claimed Ms Giuffre had shown her the infamous picture of her posing with Andrew at Maxwell’s home.
Ms Giuffre is alleged to have shown the picture to Carolyn back in Florida, saying of the Prince: “I got to sleep with him.” Carolyn reportedly said: “She didn’t seem upset about it. She thought it was pretty cool.”
Maxwell, 60, was found guilty last month of child sex trafficking and could face up to 60 years in a US jail.
Depraved Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019, aged 66, while awaiting trial.