Prince Andrew faces the humiliation of losing the remainder of his military honors — and potentially his royal title — amid his court battle with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has accused him of sexual assault.
The embattled Duke of York is determined to “clear his name” after Giuffre’s lawsuit was given the go-ahead Wednesday by federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, sources close to the royal told The Post.
While a decision to settle with Giuffre remains on the table, it is “not an option being considered at the moment,” sources added.
Questions are being asked as to whether Andrew should lose his royal title.
The Queen’s second son was already forced to stand down from all public duties in November 2019, but he’s still listed on the royal family’s website as being a patron or member of around 100 charities and organizations, including hospital trusts, cricket clubs and schools.
Andrew is still referred to as “His Royal Highness” on the royal family site, something that is also now being queried by insiders.
One highly placed royal source told The Post: “How does Andrew get to keep his HRH title when he’s embroiled in this mess, [but] Harry and Meghan are banned from using theirs just for leaving everyday working life?
“I’m fairly sure that’s the exact same question being asked inside the palace. They have to do something with today’s news [about the lawsuit moving forward] — they can’t just sit at their end and ignore it. They can’t keep the status quo, they have to do something.”
Although Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, retained their “HRH” titles following their split from the royal family, they cannot use them officially.
Giuffre, now 38, claims she was forced to sleep with Andrew when she was just 17 and was trafficked by his former friends, billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and convicted felon Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew denies all claims and says he cannot recall ever meeting her.
Reps for Andrew declined to comment.
The prince remains colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a post he took over from his late father, Prince Philip, which allows him to ride in the Trooping the Color, the annual military parade to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday.
Royal commentator and biographer Christopher Warwick told Sky News on Wednesday that the title is “very close to the Queen’s heart” because she was given the role on her 16th birthday before Prince Philip was appointed in 1975, with Andrew succeeding his father in 2017.
In August, it was reported the Queen had “let it be known” she wanted her son to keep the title.
But Warwick said there was “a feeling across the regiment that it’s not appropriate to retain him. It puts her in an invidious situation but, of course, as his mother, what she’s not going to do is turn her back on him.”
Earlier this month, a veteran of the Grenadier Guards called for the Duke of York to step down from his role as colonel of the regiment “immediately.”
Former lance sergeant Julian Perreria told the Times of London that Andrew retaining the title “will put a stain on the regiment’s proud history and devalue the hard work of past and future generations of Grenadiers.”
As the Queen is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, decisions on military titles rest ultimately with her.
“As far as Andrew’s concerned, the honorable thing would be to relinquish his remaining military titles,” Majesty Magazine managing editor Joe Little told The Post. “Clearly this case is going to drag on and on and on … Out of respect for the military and the other institutions he’s associated with, the time has now come for him to distance himself — and for him to do it himself rather than having the titles taken away from him.”
Following a 22-year career in the Royal Navy, Andrew’s honorary military titles include deputy colonel-in-chief of the Royal Lancers, colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment, colonel-in-chief of the Yorkshire Regiment and colonel-in-chief of the Small Arms School Corps.
Little added: “I don’t think the HRH will be affected, I’m sure the Queen won’t take it away from him any more than she didn’t take it away from Harry.”
Warwick too believes it is “highly unlikely” that Andrew will lose his actual royal title.
While the Queen can appoint dukes, it takes an act of Parliament to remove their titles, “which wouldn’t cover Andrew or the monarchy in glory.”
Warwick said the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act was introduced during the First World War to deprive “enemy royals” of retaining their British peerages and titles.
But, he added, “Andrew is not an enemy of Britain, so the Titles Deprivation Act wouldn’t come into it.”
