Prince Andrew, threatened with a trial for sexual assault on a minor in the United States, has become such an embarrassment that Elizabeth II had no choice but to deprive him of his royal honors to protect the British monarchy.
The decision, announced on Thursday by Buckingham Palace in a statement of brutal sobriety, occupied the front pages of all British newspapers on Friday, which highlighted the queen’s desire to "distance", but also the humiliation it meant for the prince.
"It is the survival of the royal institution at all costs"wrote the Daily Mail.
"It was time to take it even further away from the spotlight", explains to AFP Bob Morris, historian of the monarchy. In your opinion "it’s probably the end" for the Duke of York, who can no longer use his title of Royal Highness.
The situation had become untenable after a New York judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing Andres, 61, of sexually assaulting a minor, Virginia Giuffre, in the 2000s, a case linked to his scandalous friendship with the late financier and convicted child molester Jeffrey Epstein.
The pressure of some 150 soldiers who had written to the queen to denounce the lack of "probity, honesty and honorable behavior" of his third son -considered his favorite-, ninth in the order of succession to the British throne.
– Huge shame –
"It was a great shame that the retired military demanded the withdrawal of the titles. It becomes somewhat embarrassing and damaging for the queen (who is head of the armed forces, ndlr), because if she doesn’t seem to protect her son"says Penny Junor, author of numerous books on the British monarchy.
"It was time to move on to plan B, to protect the monarchy and the jubilee celebrations" platinum, the 70 years of reign that Elizabeth II will celebrate in June, adds Morris.
The celebrations in honor of the 95-year-old monarch will last for four days, with a military parade, a concert in London, a dessert contest and large popular parties.
The sovereign, who appears more and more rarely in public, would have made this decision after talking with Carlos, the heir to the crown, and his grandson, Prince William, second in line for succession, who was in Windsor on Wednesday, according to the British press.
"I imagine that Carlos and Guillermo forced her somehow"Junor tells AFP. "It was detrimental to the monarchy".
The monarchy has relatively few critics in the United Kingdom, thanks to the popularity of Elizabeth II, which has remained unchanged despite the multiple crises of recent years.
But the future is much more uncertain, since his heir Carlos remains little loved by British subjects.
– "Black sheep" –
Andrés would have been summoned on Thursday at Windsor Castle, where he went by car with his lawyer. He lives five kilometers from there, in the Royal Lodge, the former home of the queen mother.
"I think it was the right thing", considers Deborah Jane Paul, a London accountant. "It embarrasses her majesty, it’s not fair (…) and I think she has behaved very well" with the.
Whatever the outcome of the civil trial in New York Рwhere the option of an out-of-court financial settlement remains Рwill be directed "personally to Prince Andrew, rather than to the monarchy"Morris warns. "Andr̩s is the black sheep of the family, but the family will continue".
The prince had already been away from public life since a calamitous television interview in 2019, when he denied all the accusations against him, without showing the slightest empathy for the victims or any regret for his friendship with Epstein.
On Friday, a government official declined to say whether his security device would still be paid for by taxpayers.
It is also unclear whether he will be able to attend a ceremony at Westminster Abbey planned for the spring in memory of his father, Prince Philip, who died in April.
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