He will most likely continue to retain his title as the Duke of York and keep his place in the line of succession to the throne, which is currently at the ninth spot.
Prince Andrew has been stripped of all his military links and royal patronages.
Queen Elizabeth's second son will no longer be known as "His Royal Highness" in any official capacity, according to a royal source, Reuters reported.
According to PEOPLE, Buckingham Palace released a statement regarding Andrew's royal status. "With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," the palace announced. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen," the statement continued.
A source has revealed that this decision was made after being "widely discussed" within the senior ranks of the royal family, which probably means Prince William, Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth herself.
However, despite being stripped of all his titles, he will most likely continue to retain his title as the Duke of York and keep his place in the line of succession to the throne, which is currently at the ninth spot.
The decision came hours after a letter from more than 150 veterans of the Royal Navy, Air Force and Army called on the queen to strip her second son of all his titles and ranks in the armed forces, per CNBC.
The letter said that Andrew had “fallen well short of” the military’s highest standards of “probity, honesty and honourable conduct.”
“It is hard not to see, when senior officers are reportedly describing him as ‘toxic’, that he has brought the services he is associated with into disrepute,” the letter said.
In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre, who was an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court claiming that she was sexually assaulted by Prince Andrew in London and New York, according to the BBC.
The lawsuit claims she was only 17 at the time and that she was assaulted multiple times by Prince Andrew, at the direction of Ghislaine Maxwell. Not only has Andrew denied all allegations against him, he also claimed that he has never met Giuffre before.
He also filed to have the sexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out, but it was rejected by a judge on January 12, 2022. Meanwhile, sources in his legal team are remaining bullish, saying they were "unsurprised" by the ruling made on Wednesday and vowing to continue his defense.
A source close to Prince Andrew said, "Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling. However, it was not a judgment on the merits of Ms Giuffre's allegations. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Duke will continue to defend himself against these claims."
References:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/prince-andrews-legal-team-decline-comment-us-court-decision-2022-01-13/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58153711
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Christopher Furlong - WPA Pool
