Queen Elizabeth Strips Son Prince Andrew of All Titles
Queen Elizabeth's decision follows a New York court motion to continue prosecuting Andrew for sexual abuse.
After several controversies and allegations of sexual abuse, Queen Elizabeth II removed all military and royal titles from her son Prince Andrew, who will no longer use "His Royal Highness" to style his name. The monarch's decision was released by Buckingham Palace and marks a historic decision by British royalty.
The move follows a U.S. court decision on the case against the Queen's son for sexual abuse.
"With The Queen's approval and agreement, the Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The statement continued, "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."
The Queen made the move just hours after she received an open letter in which more than 150 senior military veterans urged her to withdraw all honorary military positions from Andrew. In addition to saying that they were “upset and angry," the officers declared that it was untenable for the prince to continue with such positions. "If this were another high-ranking military officer, it is inconceivable that he would still be in office."
Since 2019, the prince has faced a legal battle with Virginia Giuffre, who reports that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 years old as a part of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring. Prince Andrew denies the allegations. His lawyers moved to have the case dismissed, but the New York court denied the motion, a decision that weighed heavily on the Queen to withdraw Andrew's titles.
