After it was revealed that the lawsuit against Prince Andrew will proceed to trial, the royal family decided to quickly distance themselves from thesex abuse controversy and the royal altogether. The prince has been accused of sexual assault on three accounts by Virginia Giuffre, victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking ring.
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Last night (13 January), the Queen announced that her son will be stepping down from his public position and that he is returning all his military affiliations and royal patronages. The Buckingham Palace said in the statement:
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.
What are the titles Prince Andrew will be keeping and losing?
Prince Andrew has his fair share of titles and patronages, and while he is stepping down as a public member of the family, he will not be losing all of his titles. BBC reported that he will be retaining his title HRH, like Meghan and Harry did when they stepped down. However, he will no longer be able to use it for any official purposes.
Furthermore, he will get to keep the titles of Duke of York, Vice-Admiral in the Navy, and Counsellor of State—a role bestowed upon the Queen’s children which stipulates that they can take over her official duties if she is unable to.
The lengthy list of titles that he will be losing in the UK and overseas were published by the BBC and they include:
- Honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth
- Colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment
- Colonel-in-chief of the Small Arms School Corps
- Colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth's Own)
- Colonel-in-chief of the Yorkshire 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
- Royal colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland
- Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada
- Colonel-in-chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
- Colonel-in-chief of the Princess Louise Fusiliers of Canada
- Colonel-in-chief of the Queen’s York Rangers (1st American Regiment)
Other losses
Now that the prince is an ordinary and private citizen, he is at risk of losing a few other privileges that was bestowed upon him for being a blood member of the institute. According to The Sun, this could include his official 31-bedroom Royal Lodge residence in Windsor Great Park as his lease is up in April 2022. He may also have to start paying for 24-hour police protection from his own pocket.
Luckily for his children, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, this will not change anything in regards to their own status.Royal Central revealed that they are protected by King George V’s Letter Patent which states that ‘all grandchildren of a Monarch, in the male line, will be Royal Highnesses and Princes or Princesses.' While their father may not be able to use his HRH title, that rule will not apply to them.
