Prince Andrew Gives Up Military Titles as Sexual Abuse Case Proceeds

LONDON — Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II, has relinquished his military titles and royal charities, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday, a stinging rebuke by the British royal family a day after a federal judge in New York allowed a sexual abuse case against him to go ahead.

The palace said that Andrew, 61, “will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.” He has been accused by Virginia Giuffre of raping her when she was a teenager — a charge he denies — during a period in which he was friendly with the late financier and convicted sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew had already been largely banished from public life. But he continued to hold a series of honorary military titles, which aroused protests from former members of those units, given the legal charges hanging over him.

Buckingham Palace also said Andrew, who is also known as the Duke of York, would also “no longer use the style ‘His Royal Highness’ in any official capacity,” a concession that was demanded of his nephew, Prince Harry, when he and his wife, Meghan, withdrew from royal duties and moved to the United States in 2020.