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Royal Family News – Prince Andrew Loses Titles
Buckingham Palace announced the shocking news Thursday, January 13. According to The Sun Andrew’s, “military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen with immediate effect after he was accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Roberts Giuffre when she was just 17.”
Additionally the Duke of York can no longer use ‘His Royal Highness’ and perhaps most telling of all, the statement announced that he, “will face his US lawsuit as a ‘private citizen,” interpreted to mean that the 61-year old unemployed adult who has been accused of hiding behind the monarch cannot invoke any royal privileges to bail him out of the sordid mess.
Royal Family News – Prince Andrew Loses Royal Rights
This week the judge ruled that the case can go ahead and the civil trial will be heard before a jury in New York in autumn. Andrew’s lawyers lost their bid to have the suit tossed and he denies any wrongdoing.
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The outlet reports that, “The decision was approved by the Queen – but discussed ‘widely with the Royal Family.’”
Andrew has not undertaken public duties since 2019 and his titles will be given to other members of the royal family. His honors included Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth and Deputy colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth’s Own).
Royal Family News – The Queen Dispensed With Prince Andrew’s Titles
The terse Buckingham Palace statement reads: “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.”
Andrew’s comedown comes on the heels of Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle being stripped of their royal titles and patronages.
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What Will Andrew Do Next?
An insider close to Andrew, “insisted he would continue to defend himself against the allegations made in the lawsuit. Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling. However, it was not a judgement 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.”
But he will do so as a private citizen which is quite different than the privileged place he occupied as a royal used to preferential treatment. Before the statement was issued, “veterans from the Royal Navy, RAF and Army called for Andrew’s military honors to be taken away,” in an open letter to the Queen.
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