London: Prince Andrew says he is giving up his royal title of the Duke of York and other honours after his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines.
The younger brother of King Charles III said he and the royal family had decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family,” Prince Andrew said in a statement on Saturday (AEDT) released by Buckingham Palace.
Prince Andrew is giving up his royal titles: “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”Credit: AP
It comes as excerpts have been published of an upcoming posthumous memoir from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.
Andrew, 65, stepped down from public life in 2019, but denied wrongdoing.
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In a statement, he said that “with His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.
“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Giuffre died by suicide in April. In the memoir she details alleged encounters with Prince Andrew, who she sued in 2021, claiming that they had sex when she was 17. Andrew denied her claims and said he didn’t recall having met her.
Andrew, once second in line to the British throne, has long been a source of tabloid fodder because of his links to Epstein, other questionable characters and money woes.
