It was not completely unexpected. On Friday evening it was announced that Britain’s Prince Andrew is giving up his royal titles, including Duke of York. But his nickname Duke of Hazzard (Duke of Danger) he may never lose. The 65-year-old prince, the third child of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, has been dogged by scandals for years. A few years ago he withdrew from public life. In 2022, Elizabeth already stripped her son of a series of military titles and royal honorary positions.
The direct reason for Andrew’s decision to give up his royal titles are new facts that have emerged about his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this week, emails surfaced showing that the prince had not broken off contact with Epstein in 2010, as he previously claimed, but that he was still in contact with him in 2011.
The British newspaper also arrived The Guardian this week with one pre-publication of a number of excerpts from the posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, who committed suicide earlier this year at the age of 41. Her book, Nobody’s Girlwill be released next Tuesday. In the excerpts, she describes in detail her encounters with Prince Andrew and how she had sex with him several times as a teenager. “He was kind enough, yet spoiled – as if he believed sex with me was his birthright. […] He paid particular attention to my feet, caressing my toes and licking the soles of my feet. […] I was afraid he would want me to do the same to him. But I needn’t have worried. He seemed to be in a hurry to have sex. Afterwards he thanked me in his clipped British accent.”
Andrew, who remains a prince because he is the child of a monarch, has always claimed that he did not have sex with Giuffre. He also continues to deny the accusations in his statement on Friday evening about giving up his titles.
Voluntarily
According to British media, although Andrew voluntarily gave up his titles, he was put under considerable pressure by his family. He had been a thorn in the side of Buckingham Palace for years because he kept receiving negative news. It is also notable that Andrew writes in the first sentence of his statement that he came to his decision “in consultation with the king.” King Charles has also said that he is happy with his brother’s decision.
By giving Andrew the opportunity to voluntarily relinquish his titles, the palace has avoided more controversy. Actually, Parliament needs to pass legislation to officially strip Andrew of his dukedom. Now the royal family has been able to ‘solve’ the issue internally. That means Andrew is still technically a duke, but he will no longer claim that title.
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Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, died by suicide
“Historically, this is a very, very important step,” said historian Anthony Seldon to the BBC. The last time a senior member of the royal family was stripped of the dukedom was in 1919, when Prince Charles Edward lost his title of Duke of Albany for fighting for the Germans in the First World War. Charles Edward was a grandson of Queen Victoria.
In 2011, Prince Andrew resigned from his post as UK trade envoy after it emerged that he had visited Epstein in New York after the latter had already been convicted for his sex crimes. In 2015, Prince Andrew was first accused of having sex with Virginia Giuffre.
He made his decision to withdraw from public life in 2019, after he came under enormous fire for a TV interview with the BBC. He was mainly mocked for a number of implausible statements, such as that he could not remember ever meeting Giuffre, while he was photographed with her. Other controversy surrounding Andrew includes his alleged ties to questionable Chinese officials.
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