Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom this Friday lost all military and civilian positions he held as a member of the royal family, Queen Elizabeth II announced on social networks. The Duke of York also suffered a court defeat the day before when a New York judge recognized a case brought against him by American Virginia Roberts Giuffre. This ensures that she was forced to have sex with Andre in 2001 when she was only 17 years old.
“With the Queen’s approval and consent, the Duke of York’s military affiliation and royal patronage have been returned to the Queen. The Duke of York will continue not to perform public duties and defend himself in his business as a private person. The text does not specify who took the initiative, but the will of the sovereign is clearly expressed.
On the same day, a group of over 150 veterans wrote to the Queen demanding that André be stripped of his military honors, saying they were “restless and angry”. “If it were any other high-ranking military man, it would be inconceivable that he would still be in this post,” they argued.
The daily newspaper The Telegraph, considered close to the monarchy, writes that Andre will no longer bear the title of His Royal Highness. The decision will be made after extensive discussions with the family. Prince Charles, Andrew’s older brother and heir to the throne, has long been known to fear how this scandal will affect the crown’s popularity. Andre was spotted Friday morning driving from his home in Windsor to receive an audience with the head of state.
Less than a month before the end of the 70-year reign, Isabelle II thus separates the institution she leads from her son’s legal dilemmas. He is accused in connection with a network of pedophiles created by American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, his friend, who committed suicide in 2019 in a New York prison. Andre denies even meeting his accuser, although there is a photo of him wrapping his arms around her waist. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, was convicted as his accomplice and recruiter of minors, some as young as 14. He also appears in a photo of Andre and Virginia.
The prosecutor does not want an out-of-court settlement
The Guardian quoted Giuffre’s lawyer as saying she was not interested in an out-of-court settlement that would earn her the compensation paid by the prince. The latter tried to avoid legal action with technical charges by first asking about Giuffre’s place of residence and then trying to negotiate an agreement between Giuffre and Epstein.
If there is no appeal, Giuffre and André will be questioned under oath in the coming months. Public exposure is inconvenient for the British monarchy, just in the year that Elizabeth II celebrates the 70th anniversary of the reign, February 6th. Official celebrations are scheduled for June.
André defended himself in a 2019 BBC interview that generated such a backlash that it forced him to withdraw from public life. In it, he stated that he was suffering from a “special illness” that kept him from sweating, which he believed contradicted Giuffre’s description of their alleged sexual encounters, during which he “splashed profusely” on her. However, there is no evidence for this inability.
A veteran of the 1982 Falklands War, André hoped to be promoted to admiral by his 60th birthday in 2020, but a scandal got in the way. At the funeral of her father Philip in April, Isabella II made the entire family wear civilian clothes.
A colonel in eight regiments, the Duke of York was still Honorary Commodore of Lossiemouth Air Force Base; commander-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment; Senior Colonel of the School of Small Arms Corps; Chief Commodore of the Fleet Air Arm; Royal Colonel, Royal Highland Marines (Scotland); Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Lancers and Royal Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
PHOTO: Prince Andrew at the funeral of his father Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, April 2021. CHRIS JACKSON/AFP/Getty Images
