Prince Andrew stripped of Royal Patronages, Military titles 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, 
Duke of Edinburgh, has been stripped of all his military and royal titles. The Royal family member, who was the ninth in line of succession to the British throne has been forced to relinquish all his ties with royal titles after being involved in a sexual abuse scandal.

His lawyers failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed against him, which accuses the royal of sexual abuse. He will now no longer hold military affiliations and royal patronages.

Buckingham Palace officially announced on January 13, 2022 that Prince Andrew's titles and patronages have been returned to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

A statement from Buckingham Palace regarding The Duke of York: pic.twitter.com/OCeSqzCP38

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 13, 2022

What does this mean?

This means that the Duke of York will no longer be known as "His Royal Highness”. With the Queen's approval and agreement, all of the Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen.

The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen, said the palace in a statement. 

Prince Andrew - Background

Prince Andrew is the second youngest of Queen Elizabeth and the late Prince Philip's four children. He is the father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

He had served for 22 years in the Royal Navy. His honorary military titles included Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, one of the oldest regiments in the British Army.

He had last appeared in a public capacity with the royal family was last April, when the family had gathered for Prince Philip's funeral.

He had stepped back from public duties in  November 2019, saying in a statement at the time that his, "former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to his family's work. 

His relationship with Epstein, who is a convicted sex offender, faced more scrutiny in 2020 after Epstein died in prison from an alleged suicide.

What was the case?

The case was brought in New York by Virginia Giuffre. Virginia Giuffre had filed a civil lawsuit in accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager at a London home of Epstein's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell and also abused her at two Epstein properties.

The 38-year-old Giuffre claimed that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress while Epstein was trafficking her.

Prince Andrew denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago. 

The latest decision by the trial judge means that the prince would be forced to give evidence at a trial which could begin between September and December 2022 if no settlement is reached. 

A federal judge in New York rejected Prince Andrew's claim on January 12, 2022 that a 2009 settlement agreement between Giuffre and Epstein exempted him from civil litigation

The settlement agreement releases from legal liability "other potential defendants" and attorneys for the Duke of York had argued that prevents her from suing him because he was a potential defendant in her earlier lawsuit.