Prince Andrew stripped of his royal and military titles

Prince Andrew, the 61-year-old son of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Charles has recently been stripped of his royal and patronages and military titles, following the sexual assault case laid against him last year.

On Thursday, a statement was released from Buckingham Palace which said the Andrews military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen.

“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,” said the statement.

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Usually, senior members of the royal family are appointed as honorary heads of military units, with the queen’s involvement and approval.

Andrew was appointed as honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards, whose soldiers are responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace.

The decision for Prince Andrew to give up his titles comes a day after a judge in New York ruled against the prince’s attempt to have the sexual assault case thrown out.

The Duke of York was sued in a New York court some time in August 2021 for alleged sexual abuse, after the plaintiff, Virginia Gluffre spoke out and said that she was “lent out” for underage sex by the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Gluffre alleged in the court filing that she was regularly abused by Epstein, and was lent out by him to other powerful men for their sexual purposes, one of them being Prince Andrew.

Andrew has denied on several accounts the sexual abuse claims made against him, and said he had no recollection of meeting her.

However, the court papers included a photograph alleged to show both Andrew and Virginia at Maxwell’s London home before one of the incidents of sexual abuse.