Prince Andrew stripped of his royal military tittle as sex abuse case rage against him

He will also no longer use the title “His Royal Highness”.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has been stripped of his title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment, part of the broader fallout from sexual assault allegations against him.

He will also no longer use the title “His Royal Highness”.

Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that “with the Queen’s approval and agreement,” all of Prince Andrew's military affiliations and remaining royal patronages have been returned.

Queen Elizabeth’s second son, who is 61, is facing a US civil lawsuit that accuses him of having sex with a teenager trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew, who denies the lawsuit allegations and maintains he cannot recall meeting Giuffre, has been mostly out of the public eye for the past year, and many organisations distanced themselves from him after he defended his relationship with Epstein in a disastrous 2019 BBC interview. But, until now, he had retained his honorary military titles with multiple British regiments.

The statement from Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”

Prince Andrew’s lawyers called for the complaints to be dismissed as Giuffre agreed to end legal action with Epstein following a 2009 settlement in which she was paid US$500,000 (NZ$735,000).

Legal action against anyone else “who could have been included as a potential defendant,” was included in the settlement, according to a court record.

The prince’s lawyers say that language should bar Virginia Giuffre from suing Andrew now, even though he wasn’t a party to the original settlement.

Prince Andrew was not named in that lawsuit, but Giuffre had alleged in it that Epstein had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with numerous men “including royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen and/or professional and personal acquaintances”.

The BBC reported the prince would “continue to defend himself” against the case brought by Giuffre. It quoted a royal source as saying a judge’s ruling on Wednesday that the civil action could proceed was “not a judgement on the merits of Ms Giuffre's allegations”.

The palace’s statement came after 150 army, navy and air force veterans wrote to the Queen asking her to strip the prince of his military ranks and titles amid his continued legal trouble.