Queen strips Prince Andrew of all his honourary military titles, royal roles

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II has stripped Prince Andrew of all his honorary military titles and royal roles in charities and other civic groups after a US judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a civil case against him.

The 95-year-old monarch has taken the decision of releasing her second son from royal duties amid a growing furor over allegations he sexually abused a teenage girl supplied to him by financier Jeffrey Epstein.

According to report, Dozens of British navy and army veterans had written to the queen asking her to strip her second son of all his military ranks after the judge rejected Andrew’s legal team's argument to dismissing case. Buckingham Palace, in a brief statement on Thursday, said: “with the queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”

The Queen is head of the armed forces and honorary military appointments are given by her. Andrew stepped back from public duties in 2019, after an interview about his friendship with Epstein drew widespread criticism. But he had retained his honorary titles, including Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, until now.

Giuffre sued the 61-year-old Andrew in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with him in 2001, when she was 17, by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected an argument by Andrew’s legal team that Giuffre’s lawsuit should be thrown out at an early stage because of an old legal settlement she had with Epstein, who she claims set up sexual encounters with the prince. He stressed that he wasn’t ruling on the truth of the allegations.