Prince Andrew Returns Military Affiliations and Royal Patronages to Queen Amid s**ual Abuse Case

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has returned his military affiliations and royal patronages to the Queen as he prepares to face a s**ual abuse case in a US court.

The trial is scheduled to take place between September and December, and Virginia Roberts Dufresne is seeking unspecified damages as she sues the Queen's son for allegedly s**ually assaulting her in New York, London, and the US Virgin Islands when she was a teenager.

The Prince denies the allegations.

Ms. Dufresne filed a civil suit against the Duke on August 9, 2021, using a New York state law that allows survivors of childhood s**ual abuse to sue regardless of whether the alleged crimes took place outside the statute of limitations.

Now the Duke of York will no longer use the style His Royal Highness in an official capacity.

The 61-year-old, who has stepped away from all public duties, is defending his case as a private citizen.

In an announcement of the Queen's decision, Buckingham Palace said, “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.”

While a royal source told the Mirror, “All of the Duke's roles have been handed back to the Queen with immediate effect for redistribution to other members of the royal family, will not be returned to the Duke of York.

The Duke of York will no longer use the style His Royal Highness in any official capacity.”

However, a close associate of the Prince has now told the Times that the Queen will welcome him back to public life if he wins the civil case.

The associate said, “I think if the Queen is still alive and his name is cleared, I would say that at that point, what reason would there be for him to be barred from taking part in royal duties?

If he's cleared, then the question to ask is why should he not be in a position to take part in royal duties and be HRH again and have his military titles, after all, he served in the military?”

But, the individual added that the outcome could be different if Prince Charles is King by the time the case is concluded.

“It's a different decision-maker and different people influencing him and therefore it's slightly less predictable,” they said.

They added, “I think his brother is a very reasonable and intelligent person and I'm sure he will do what's right for the royal family and for the country.”

Andrew retains his military rank of Vice Admiral.

The Duke, who served in the Royal Navy, was made Vice Admiral by the Navy on his 55th birthday in 2015.

He was due to be promoted to Admiral on his 60th birthday in 2020 but asked to defer this after he stepped down from public duties.