Andrew to lose his last military rank: defence minister

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - The UK government said Sunday it would move to strip the former Prince Andrew of his honorary title of vice-admiral, his last remaining military rank.

Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022 after he was sued by Virginia Giuffre, US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's main accuser.

The latest move comes after King Charles III on Thursday removed all his younger brother's remaining royal titles and honours amid growing UK anger over Andrew's ties to Epstein.

"We've seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he's had throughout the military... Guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has," Defence minister John Healey told the BBC.

He told the Laura Kuenssberg programme that the government would also be guided by the king on whether Andrew should lose his military medals.

The king's younger brother was once feted for his role as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands War.

He retired in 2001after 22 years of service.

Andrew has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre, who said in her posthumous memoir published in October that she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions, twice when she was just 17.

But on Thursday Buckingham Palace said in a fiercely-worded statement that "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor" adding "these censures are deemed necessary" despite his denial.

The king and queen also said their "utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse," it added.

A friend of the king and Queen Camilla told the Sunday Times: "That was extraordinary. That's the closest you'll get to the king and his court passing judgment on his brother."

UK media reported Andrew had refused to sign off on any statements which referenced the victims since his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, in which he defended his ties to Epstein and showed no empathy for the women involved.

"There has long been a sense from the family that the voices of the victims needed to be heard,"another friend told the Sunday Times.

Camilla has long campaigned for the victims of abuse, and there were growing fears among the royal family of the reputational damage of the scandal.

In an email released among court documents on Thursday in the US, Andrew wrote to Epstein in 2010 after his release from jail for prostituting minors that he was planning a trip to New York as it would be "good to catch up in person".