The controversy surrounding Prince Andrew and his sexual assault lawsuit has only escalated in the last several weeks, and after the 61-year-old was stripped of his royal patronages and military affiliations earlier this year, as of earlier this week the Duke of York’s social media accounts have been wiped from the internet. Prince Andrew was accused of sexual assault in America by Virgina Giuffre, and the Queen has now taken action to separate the royal family from her second son, removing him of his military connection while declaring he may no longer be referred to as His Royal Highness.
On Wednesday, the 61-year-old’s Twitter account, @thedukeofyork, was deleted from the internet, and his YouTube account has also been scrubbed. As of the end of this week, The Duke’s official Instagram account has also been removed as the lawsuit continues to loom.
Most telling of all is the royal family’s official website, in which the Queen recently made an amendment on the Duke of York’s page, issuing a statement saying, “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 continued, “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”
The royal family has refrained from publicly commenting on Prince Andrew’s sexual assault lawsuit, but it’s become increasingly clear that the Queen is working hard to separate the monarchy from her son’s misdeeds. According to CBS News there has been an increasing call within the UK for Prince Andrew to lose his title of Duke of York if the allegations are determined to be true.
Prince Andrew has categorically denied the allegations, even going as far as to claim he has “no recollection” of ever meeting Giuffre. However, Giuffre claims that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her three times while she was a minor after meeting through known sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
