More than 150 UK military veterans have written to Queen Elizabeth and asked her to strip Prince Andrew of his honorary military titles. Their call follows his relationship with the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The campaign group Republic said the letter to the 95-year-old monarch asked for immediate action because her son Andrew, the Duke of York, had been “uncooperative and less than truthful” about his relationship with Epstein, and had brought the armed services he represented into disrepute.
The missive was made public just 24-hours after Prince Andrew had his bid to get a civil case which alleges he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre dismissed by a U.S. judge, as Breitbart News reported.
Andrew, who has not been charged with any criminal offences, has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.
Britain’s Prince Andrew, Duke of York, salutes as he attends a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bruges on September 7, 2019 in Bruges. (NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP via Getty Images)
“We are particularly upset and angry that Prince Andrew remains a member of the armed forces and continues to hold military titles, positions and ranks, including that of Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy,” the letter said, according to the Reuters news service.
“We are therefore asking that you take immediate steps to strip Prince Andrew of all his military ranks and titles and, if necessary, that he be dishonorably discharged.”
The prince was forced to step down from public duties in 2019 because of his connections to Epstein and in the wake of a disastrous BBC TV interview which he had hoped would clear his name, but instead led to ridicule and further questions.
The 61-year-old prince, the queen’s second son, has denied Giuffre’s accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties.
“Regardless of the result of Virginia Giuffre’s civil case against Prince Andrew, his position in Britain’s armed forces is now untenable,” the veterans’ letter said.
Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday it would not comment on an ongoing legal matter.
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