Prince Andrew \u2014 and those around him \u2014 have been back-pedalling ever since.<\/p>\n
The senior royal stepped back from public duties and later returned his military affiliations and royal patronages in January 2022 amid a civil case with Giuffre that he eventually settled without admitting wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
But while the royal family may have hoped that would draw a line in the sand on the issue of Prince Andrew, other scandals over the years have made such wishes impossible.<\/p>\n
There has been the long-running “siege of Royal Lodge<\/a>“, speculation over whether he would join<\/a> the Christmas walks at Sandringham, and more damaging allegations that he was in contact with a businessman accused of being a Chinese spy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Each time, however, Prince Andrew has managed to scrape through, retaining his ability to use the Duke of York signature and his title as Knight of the Garter. Until this week.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew has been under pressure since being linked to two major scandals. (Reuters)<\/p>\n The Duke found himself back in the spotlight recently after excerpts of Giuffre’s memoir were made public and again when it emerged that he had met a senior Chinese official at the centre of a Beijing spy case at least three times<\/a>.<\/p>\n The news threatened to overshadow the work of other royals, particularly King Charles and Prince William, as they seek to redefine their roles and put their own unique stamps on the monarchy.<\/p>\n It seemed as if the Duke’s ongoing, uncertain position within the Firm had become untenable.<\/p>\n Something had to be done; the question was whether Prince Andrew would do it himself or if his brother would be forced to show him the door.<\/p>\n Royal revelations<\/p>\n Since 2019, Prince Andrew has sat on the very periphery of the House of Windsor, out in the cold but never far from the spotlight.<\/p>\n After a drip-feed of humiliating headlines in recent years, this week’s news came in thick and fast.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew gives up title<\/a><\/p>\n The third-born child of Queen Elizabeth II will still be referred to as a prince and is expected to continue living in his Windsor mansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n It started with reports that the prince was still in touch with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein until 2011, swapping messages such as: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!”<\/p>\n This is despite the Duke telling Newsnight that he had severed all links with Epstein after they had been photographed together in New York in December 2010.<\/p>\n Leaked emails also suggested that Prince Andrew had messaged Epstein about an infamous photograph of the prince with his arm around Giuffre after she had appeared in an article from the Daily Mail, raising concerns about the royal’s links to Epstein.<\/p>\n “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it,” Prince Andrew reportedly wrote in an email to Epstein dated February 28, 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prince Andrew vigorously denied the accusations against him in his statement.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew poses for a photo with Virginia Roberts. (Supplied)<\/p>\n The news followed on the heels of multiple British charities publicly cutting ties with Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, after she had described Epstein as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend” in a 2011 letter.<\/p>\n Then there was the upcoming release of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.<\/p>\n On Thursday, extracts from the book were published in the British press, which included allegations that Prince Andrew had sex with her on three occasions, including at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house in London.<\/p>\n “He seemed in a rush to have intercourse,” Ms Giuffre claimed.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew has also been at the centre of a Chinese spy controversy.<\/p>\n British newspaper The Telegraph reported<\/a> Prince Andrew had held meetings in 2018 and 2019 with Cai Qi, one of the most senior members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a close ally of China’s president Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n Mr Cai is understood to be the final recipient of sensitive information allegedly passed to China by two British nationals accused of spying for Beijing, the newspaper reported. The two men deny the charges.<\/p>\n The Telegraph had reported that the fresh details about the Duke\u2019s dealings “will likely add to pressure on the King to strip him of his remaining royal privileges”.<\/p>\n And it certainly seems as if the outrage that followed had put the royal family in a tricky position.<\/p>\n Who made the call?<\/p>\n The monarch and Prince William have been busy forging ahead with their vision for the monarchy<\/a> following a series of health setbacks last year.<\/p>\n But Prince Andrew had become a thorny issue in their efforts to reset the agenda.<\/p>\n King Charles has been forging ahead after stepping out of the spotlight for some of last year as he battled cancer. (Reuters: Aaron Chown)<\/p>\n “Sentiment has changed, and it’s not only just directed at Andrew and Sarah, it’s directed at the institution itself,” British historian and author Andrew Lownie told the ABC<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I think the monarchy just feels that they need to kind of cut off this infected limb before it infects the body politic.”<\/p>\n There have been calls for years for Prince Andrew to be stripped of his honorary titles.<\/p>\n But only the King could remove them \u2014\u00a0as Queen Elizabeth did when she stripped Prince Harry<\/a> of his when he ceased to be a working royal.<\/p>\n The former monarch had resisted doing so for her own son, as did King Charles when he assumed the role.<\/p>\n So what prompted Prince Andrew to make the decision now?<\/p>\n It’s often been speculated that relations between Prince William and his uncle have been frosty.<\/p>\n UK news outlets have previously reported that the move to dismiss Prince Andrew from his official duties in 2019 stemmed in part from efforts by his nephew.<\/p>\n And this week, commentators claimed the heir to the throne was becoming increasingly unhappy over the coverage of his uncle.<\/p>\n Commentators believe King Charles may have been under pressure from Prince William on the issue of Prince Andrew. (Reuters: Toby Melville)<\/p>\n “He is actively lobbying to ensure Andrew is ‘completely excluded’ from all and any family activities,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital<\/a>.<\/p>\n King Charles was thought to be “under pressure, perhaps from his son William, that this boil needs to be lanced,” Mr Lownie said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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