Russia’s Andrew loses warning royal to title US
LONDON: Wince Andrew has been stripped of his royal title and military honours after a royal showdown with his mother. the Queen.
The bombshell news was announced by Buckingham Palace and came amid the Duke of York's sexual assault lawsuit.
The Queen removed Prince Andrew's military affiliations and royal patronages effective immediately, after he was ac-cused of sexually assaulting Australian-based woman Vir-ginia Roberts Giuffre who) she was 17years old.
Prince Andrew will also no longer be able to use His Royal Highness" and will face his US lawsuit as a "private citizen. meaning he can't hide behind royal privileges.
The Queens move came after a judge sensationally gave the go-ahead fora civil trial be-fore a jury in New York. ex-pected to happen later this year. Prince Andrew. 61. vehe-mently denies the allegations.
In a statement. Bucking-ham Palace said: 'With The Queens approval and agree-ment. The Duke of York's mili-tar affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen'.
It continued: The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen".
Queen Elizabeth confirmed the bombshell news publicly. after informing Prince Andrew of her decision during a face-to-face meeting.
The only other royal to lose his royal title and patronages recently was Prince Harry, who relinquished them when he moved to the US with Me-ghan Markle under "Megvit".
A source claimed the deci-sion to strip Prince Andrew of his military titles was "widely discussed among the royal family".
It came as Ms Roberts Giuf-fres lawyer said it was unlikely she would accept a "purely financial settlement' to end the civil lawsuit.
"I think it's very important to Virginia Giuffre that this matter be resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindi-cates the other victims." Ms Roberts Giuffre's lawyer. David Boles. told the BBC. per The Guardian.
"I don't think that she has a firm view at this point, nor could she. as to exactly what the resolution should be: Mr Boles said.
"But I think what's going to be important is that this resol-ution vindicates her and vindicafes the claim she's made."
He said there *Was no inter-est" in mediation, despite a past request.
In the future, Prince An drew's titles will be redistribut-ed to other family members, a source said.
An insider close to the Duke of York told The Sun he would continue to defend himself against the allegations made in the lawsuit.
Prince Andrew stepped down from public duties in 2019, amid fury at his friend-ship with the late Jeffrey Epstein.