Prince Andrew photographed by the paparazzi, Photo: Jon Bond / News Licensing / Profimedia Images
Prince Andrew announced on Friday that he would give up using the title “Duke of York” after years of criticism over his behavior and links to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reports.
The reputation of Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III and the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has been heavily damaged in recent years, particularly by his links to Epstein.
In addition, there were also revelations that one of his business associates was considered by the government to be a Chinese spy.
In a statement, Andrew said the “continuing allegations against me” had distracted from the work of his older brother, King Charles, and the work of the British royal family as a whole.
“Therefore, I will no longer use the title or the honors conferred upon me. As I have said before, I strongly deny the allegations against me,” he declared.
Andrew, 65, eighth in line to the throne, was once considered a dapper naval officer and served in the army during the Falklands War with Argentina in the early 1980s.
Accused of sexually abusing a minor
Andrew's long-publicized problems began in 2015, when he was targeted by a lawsuit filed by Virgina Giuffre, writes CNN. The woman alleged that Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends in 2001, including Prince Andrew, and that they knew she was a minor under US law at the time.
Giuffre, who died in April, alleged that Andrew sexually abused her on Epstein's private island in the Virgin Islands, his Manhattan mansion and the home of his ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in London.
Andrew, who has consistently denied the allegations, and Giuffre reached an undisclosed settlement in 2022. That year he was stripped of most royal titles and duties.
The allegations have returned to public attention in the past week with the publication of Giuffre's memoirs.
