Buckingham Palace has announced that The Duke of York has returned his patronages and military affiliations to The Queen.
The news comes a day after it was announced by a US Judge that the Virginia Guiffre case will be going to trial.
The Duke of York, attending a memorial to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bruges in his role as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards
The full statement from Buckingham Palace reads as follows:
‘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 is a military veteran who served as a helicopter pilot for the Royal Navy during the Falklands War.
The Duke of York categorically denies having sex with Virginia Roberts, and thinks it was the wrong thing to have met and stayed with Epstein after his conviction (BBC still)
Ms Giuffre is suing Andrew in a civil case in New York alleging she was forced to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein’s friends, including the Duke of York, when she was 17. The Duke of York has consistently denied the allegations.
As the case is now going to a trial, Andrew may have to sit for an interview under oath, which is known as a deposition.
This does not affect his title as Duke of York, but a source has said he will stops using his HRH styling – similar to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
In 2019, Andrew stepped down from public duties
. In his statement at the time, Prince Andrew said that he asked The Queen for permission to take this largely unprecedented move. The Duke acknowledged that his ‘former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support’.
The Duke of York took part in an interview with Emily Maitlis on BBC’s Newsnight
in 2019. He was questioned as to ‘why now?’ for the interview, Andrew responded that ‘there is no good time to talk about Mr Epstein and all things associated’ with him, but thinks that now is ‘a very good opportunity’.
