Britain’s Prince Andrew is not going to use his royal titles, together with the Duke of York, any longer, he stated in a press release launched by Buckingham Palace on Friday. The announcement comes after the discharge of excerpts from a posthumous memoir by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had repeatedly claimed to have been sexually trafficked by the late financier to Andrew.
“In dialogue with The King, and my instant and wider household, we’ve concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Household,” Andrew, the youthful brother of King Charles III, stated within the assertion. “I’ve determined, as I all the time have, to place my responsibility to my household and nation first. I stand by my determination 5 years in the past to face again from public life.”
He continued: “With His Majesty’s settlement, we really feel I need to now go a step additional. I’ll due to this fact now not use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I’ve stated beforehand, I vigorously deny the accusations towards me.”
Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, sued Andrew in 2021, alleging that he pressured her to have interaction in sexual acts towards her will when she was 17 years previous. The 2 reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022. Andrew has denied the allegations.
Giuffre was some of the vocal accusers of Epstein, a convicted intercourse offender, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was discovered responsible of serving to Epstein groom, recruit and sexually abuse underage ladies. Giuffre alleged Maxwell linked her with Epstein, which Maxwell denies.
In an excerpt of her memoir revealed by The Guardian, Giuffre describes her alleged encounters with Andrew intimately.
“He was pleasant sufficient, however nonetheless entitled — as if he believed having intercourse with me was his birthright,” she wrote. “The following morning, Maxwell instructed me: ‘You probably did effectively. The prince had enjoyable.’ Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the person the tabloids known as ‘Randy Andy.'”
Andrew, as soon as second in line to the British throne, has lengthy been a supply of tabloid fodder due to his hyperlinks to Epstein, different questionable characters and cash woes.
His try to refute Giuffre’s allegations backfired throughout a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers noticed a prince who proffered curious rebuttals — reminiscent of disputing Giuffre’s recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring — and confirmed no empathy for the ladies who stated Epstein abused them.
Inside days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties.
In addition to now not being generally known as the Duke of York, Andrew can even surrender different titles: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
He’ll stay a prince, which he has been entitled to since start.
