Prince Andrew is giving up his title Duke of York.
In a statement from Andrew released by Buckingham Palace Friday, the younger brother of King Charles III says he and his family have decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.”
“I have decided, as I always have, to my duty to family and country first,” says Andrew. “I stand by my decision five years ago and to stand back from public life.”
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me,” says Andrew.
Prince Andrew’s friendship with sex offender Jeffery Epstein has been in the public again with excerpts from a posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, published.
In it she claims to have been trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.
