PRINCE ANDREW was “thrown out of his office” in Buckingham Palace before being stripped of his titles and patronages, royal expert Russell Myers recently claimed.The Duke of York, 61, is being sued for sexual assault in the US by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew three times when she was 17.
Andrew vigorously denies the accusations against him. Ms Giuffre was given a boost earlier this month when a New York judge said that her civil case against the Queen’s son could proceed to trial.
The judge rejected arguments from Andrew’s lawyers that the case should be thrown out, after they claimed the Duke was protected from legal action because of the wording of a previously confidential agreement between Ms Giuffre and the late Epstein.
The following day, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Andrew would be stripped of his military titles, royal patronages and his use of the HRH (His Royal Highness) title in an official capacity.
This is just the latest in a series of blows for the Duke, as the Palace increasingly distances itself from him. In November 2019, shortly after Prince Andrew’s infamous BBC Newsnight interview about his former friendship with Epstein, it was announced that he would step back from public duties.
However, he intended to keep running his ‘Dragon’s Den’-style entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace in a private capacity, despite numerous organisations severing ties with him.The company, which Andrew founded, links start-up firms to potential investors.
Standard Chartered and KPMG severed ties with the Duke, as did Barclays, which pulled out as a sponsor of Pitch@Palace. A Palace spokesperson said: “The Duke will continue to work on Pitch and will look at how he takes this forward outside of his public duties, and outside of Buckingham Palace.
“We recognise there will be a period of time while this transition takes place.” It was reported by The Guardian that month that Andrew was preparing to leave his private office in Buckingham Palace as he sought to maintain control of Pitch@Palace.
However, in 2020, Pitch@Palace removed Andrew’s name from its site, as well as some pictures of him. Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers reflected on this, claiming the Duke was “thrown out of his office” in Buckingham Palace on royal podcast Pod Save the Queen, hosted by Zoe Forsey.
In an episode released before the judge’s ruling that Andrew could face trial, he said: “It will be a lonely place for him, I imagine, at the moment.
“Because there are very few allies in his corner, certainly his family are sticking by him.“The Palace seem to have distanced themselves from him for many, many months.
