UPDATED: In the wake of his out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was underage, Britain’s Prince Andrew has been stripped of yet another honorary title, according to multiple reports.
The Freedom of the City of York honor was rescinded after unanimous vote by the city’s council. He has held the accolade since 1987. Counselors also called him to relinquish his Duke of York title.
The council’s executive member for culture, leisure & communities and proposer of the motion, Daryl Smalley, elaborated on the matter.
“Having been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen,” said Smalley, “we believe that it is right to remove all links that Prince Andrew still has with our great city.
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The rank of duke can only be removed by an act of parliament, according to the BBC. Such an action was last taken in 1917.
PREVIOUSLY on January 13: The Queen has stripped Prince Andrew of his “military affiliations and royal patronages” and left him to defend his case against Virginia Roberts Giuffre as a “private citizen.”
The move came hours after more than 150 military veterans wrote to the Queen to ask her to strip Andrew of his honorary military roles amid what they described as their “upset and anger.”
Yesterday, a New York judge rejected the Prince’s lawyers’ attempts to dismiss Giuffre’s civil claim and the Duke of York will now face civil trial in the U.S.
Giuffre is suing Prince Andrew over claims that he abused her when she was 17, which the Prince has denied. He says he has no recollection of meeting her.
Buckingham Palace’s statement essentially distances the UK royals from Andrew and his legal team.
It 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.”
Prince Andrew hasn’t been undertaking public duties since 2019, shortly after a car crash BBC interview in which he attempted to distance himself from the now-deceased Jeffrey Epstein and Giuffre’s claims.
His case has been placed in the spotlight since Epstein’s confidante Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted last month.
His military titles include honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment, colonel-in-chief of the Small Arms School Corps, commodore-in-chief of the Fleet Air Arm, royal colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, deputy colonel-in-chief of the Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths’ Own) and royal colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
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