Prince Andrew was taken to the royal woodshed by his mother.
Queen Elizabeth II, in a terse two-sentence statement Thursday, announced her son was stripped of his military ties and royal patronages as he faces an ongoing civil lawsuit in Manhattan alleging he sexually abused an underage girl linked to his disgraced pal and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The stunning declaration came one day after Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled the accuser’s sex abuse case against the 61-year-old British royal will be allowed to proceed.
“With the Queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen,” read the Buckingham Palace statement. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a public citizen.”
In addition, according to a Reuters report, Andrew was banned from use of the term “His Royal Highness” in any capacity.
Accuser Virginia Giuffre alleged in court papers that she was directed by Epstein to have sex with the prince on three occasions in the early 2000s when she was just 17.
Ghislane Maxwell, Epstein’s partner in perversion, was just convicted in the same courthouse for procuring other underage girls who were sexually abused by Epstein — the globe-trotting multimillionaire who committed suicide in his jail cell before facing trial.
Giuffre alleged some of the abuse occurred inside Maxwell’s London townhouse.
An infamous photo captured Andrew with his arm around a young Giuffre at the residence, with Maxwell seen smiling in the background.
Andrew’s lawyers insist the British royal never sexually abused or assaulted the teen accuser and “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.”
But Kaplan ruled Wednesday that her suit against the prince will be allowed to go forward.
“Ms. Giuffre’s complaint is neither ‘unintelligible’ nor ‘vague’ nor ‘ambiguous,’” he wrote. “It alleged discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes the sexual abuse.”
______
