LONDON: Britain’s Prince Andrew said on Friday (Oct 17) he would not use his title of Duke of York, after years of scandal surrounding his conduct and ties to the late US intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew, 65, mentioned the “continued accusations” about him had turn into a distraction for King Charles and the broader royal household, including that he wished to place his responsibility to household and nation first.
“I’ve determined, as I all the time have, to place my responsibility to my household and nation first,” Andrew mentioned in a press release. “With His Majesty’s settlement, we really feel I need to now go a step additional. I’ll due to this fact not use the title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.”
He reiterated that he “vigorously denies the accusations” in opposition to him.
YEARS OF CONTROVERSY
The prince, as soon as thought to be a dashing naval officer who served within the Falklands Struggle, has seen his status collapse lately.
He was pressured to step down from his commerce ambassador function in 2011, stop royal duties in 2019, and was stripped of his army titles and patronages in 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has all the time denied.
That very same yr, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her as a youngster. Giuffre, who died in April, made contemporary headlines this week with the discharge of her memoirs, which detailed her alleged encounters with Andrew.
In extracts revealed by The Guardian, she described the prince as “entitled” and mentioned he believed “it was his birthright to have intercourse together with her.”
