LONDON: Britain’s Prince Andrew said on Friday he would give up using his title of Duke of York following years of criticism about his behaviour and connections to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Royal Family- Latest Updates
The reputation of Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles and second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has taken a battering in recent years, most notably because of his links to Epstein.
But there have also been revelations that one of his close business associates was thought by the government to be a Chinese spy.
In a statement, Andrew said “the continued accusations about me” distracted from the work of his elder brother King Charles and the wider work of the British royal family.
“I will therefore no longer use the title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me,” Andrew said in a statement.
Prince Andrew, 65, the eighth-in-line to the throne, was once regarded as a dashing naval officer and served in the military during the Falklands War with Argentina in the early 1980s.
But he gained a reputation as a playboy prince, and in 2022 was stripped of most of his titles and removed from royal duties due to his connections to Epstein.
That year, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, which accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. Andrew has always denied her account, which has returned to prominence in the last week with the release of her memoir.
Also Read: Prince Andrew ‘haunted’ by sister Princess Anne’s popularity: ‘It eats away at him’
Earlier, Princess Anne — widely regarded as one of the most respected members of the royal family for her lifelong dedication to public service — remains immensely popular, a fact that stands in stark contrast to the fall from grace of her disgraced brother, Prince Andrew.
While the Duke of York remained trapped in scandals following his links to Jeffrey Epstein Princess Anne cemented her status as the hardest-working member of the Royal family in recent years.
“Anne represents everything the monarchy is supposed to stand for – hard work and respect. For Andrew, who has lost all of that, it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” an insider told Radar Online.