Decision provides \u2018the neatest solution\u2019 to situation surrounding King\u2019s younger brother, expert says<\/p>\n
As new scandals continued to rise around Prince Andrew, he said Friday that he \u201cwill no longer use\u201d his titles or honours.
\nThe Duke of York had stepped back from official royal duties after his disastrous BBC interview in 2019 regarding his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew also agreed to settle a lawsuit in which he was accused of sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre.
\nRecently published excerpts from a posthumous book by Giuffre accused Andrew of being \u201centitled \u2014 as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.\u201d
\nOther reports had emerged recently that he told Epstein in an email \u201cwe are in this together\u201d after a picture of the royal with his arm around a teenage Giuffre was published in 2011.
\nIn a message late Friday from Buckingham Palace, Andrew said that in discussion with his brother, King Charles, and his immediate and wider family, \u201cwe have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.\u201d
\n\u201cI have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
\n\u201cWith His Majesty\u2019s 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.\u201d
\nCraig Prescott, a constitutional expert and lecturer in law at Royal Holloway, University of London, said this is \u201cthe neatest solution\u201d to the situation involving Andrew.
\n\u201cIt avoids the need for Parliament to get involved. He technically retains the titles, but this is a distinction without a difference. He remains a prince, which shows you can never really truly leave the Royal Family, but this a big step.\u201d
\nPrescott said the allegations against Andrew are \u201cespecially jarring when compared to Queen Camilla\u2019s work on domestic violence and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh\u2019s work on sexual violence against women in war zones.\u201d
\nAs reports surfaced earlier Friday suggesting that Andrew was set to give up the Duke of York title, Justin Vovk, a royal historian and member of the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, said he was both surprised and not surprised.
\n\u201cWith the Epstein files, and the new memoir, significantly dismantling Andrew\u2019s presentation of events based on his now-infamous TV interview, it would only be a matter of time before either the Crown or the government would need to take some kind of action.\u201d
\nAndrew also won\u2019t attend the Royal Family\u2019s Christmas celebrations, Buckingham Palace said.
\nGraham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy group Republic, said the idea that losing \u201cpointless titles is a fit punishment\u201d for Andrew must be challenged.
\n\u201cThe royals have been covering for and protecting Andrew for two decades. The public has a right to know who knew what and when,\u201d Smith said in a statement.
\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t one rotten apple, it\u2019s a rotten institution that circles the wagons and does as little as it can in response to serious scandal.\u201d
\nWhen Rhian Mannings told Prince William about the devastating impact her husband\u2019s death by suicide had on their family, the Prince of Wales seemed visibly moved.
\nFor a moment, it appeared that William couldn\u2019t continue the conversation as they sat at Mannings\u2019s kitchen table in Cardiff, Wales.
\n\u201cAre you OK?\u201d she wondered aloud.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry, it\u2019s hard to ask you the questions,\u201d he replied, once he found his voice again.
\nThe visit with Mannings featured in a short film released recently on World Mental Health Day. It also coincided with the launch of a suicide prevention network by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
\nAs much as the moment was significant in William and Catherine\u2019s ongoing efforts to break the stigma around suicide and offer support for families and mental health issues, it was also a glimpse of a more personal side of the Prince of Wales that has been on display in the last little while.
\nA few days before the short film was released, William was front and centre as another small-screen production was released. In it, William took Canadian comedian Eugene Levy around Windsor Castle as part of his Reluctant Traveler series for Apple TV+.
\nWilliam rolled up for the conversation with Levy on an e-scooter, reflected throughout their time together on his family life \u2014 both as a child and now, three decades later, with children of his own \u2014 and seemed quite comfortable sitting down for a pint in the local pub with his guest.
\nThe appearances with Mannings and Levy have been an opportunity to see a \u201cmore visible personal touch\u201d from William, Vovk said.
\n\u201cI think this is part of a broader agenda with him to start signalling what the monarchy is going to look like under him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Decision provides \u2018the neatest solution\u2019 to situation surrounding King\u2019s younger brother, expert says As new scandals continued to rise around Prince Andrew, he said Friday that he \u201cwill no longer use\u201d his titles or honours. The Duke of York had stepped back from official royal duties after his disastrous BBC interview in 2019 regarding his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n