Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has stripped her son, Prince Andrew, of his military affiliations and royal patronages as the controversy over allegations he had sex with an underage girl continued to swirl.
“The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement Thursday.
“With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, a New York judge ruled a civil suit against Andrew by the accuser, Virginia Giuffre, could move forward.
Giuffre says she was forced to perform sexual acts with Andrew at the behest of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew denies the charges.
In 2019, Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail while he awaited another trial for sex trafficking. His death was ruled a suicide.
Maxwell was recently convicted of sex trafficking.
