The Queen has stripped Prince Andrew of his military titles, months after reportedly letting 'it be known' that she wanted him to keep them

• Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages on Thursday.
• Months earlier, the Queen reportedly said that she wanted Prince Andrew to keep them.

Months before Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles on Thursday, the Queen reportedly said that she wanted him to keep them.

In August, a senior military source told The Times of London's royal editor Roya Nikkhah that "The Queen has let it be known to the regiment that she wants the Duke of York to remain as colonel."

The source added that "the feeling is that nobody wants to do anything that could cause upset to the colonel-in-chief."

Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday, and said he will defend himself from sexual-assault allegations as a private citizen instead of a royal.

Prince Andrew's honorary military titles included colonel of the Grenadier Guards, honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment, and royal colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, among others, according to The Guardian.

The decision comes months after the military source told The Times that allowing Prince Andrew to remain colonel of the Grenadier Guards had created a "very difficult, unsatisfactory situation."

"His position is not tenable or viable," the source added. "How can you have a colonel who can't perform the role?"

"For the brief time he was in post, he was a good colonel, but the feeling across the regiment is that it's not appropriate to retain him. You can't have a colonel who can't do public duties."

In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre Roberts filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew accusing him of sexual assault.

She alleges that Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in his New York mansion, in London, and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands in 2001 when she was 17.

Prince Andrew filed a motion to dismiss Giuffre's lawsuit, arguing that a 2009 settlement between her and Epstein protected him from future lawsuits.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the duke's motion to dismiss Giuffre's lawsuit was "denied in all respects."

Shortly following Kaplan's decision, more than 150 military veterans asked the Queen to strip Prince Andrew of his military roles in an open letter.

"Were this any other senior military officer it is inconceivable that he would still be in post," the letter read. "We understand that he is your son, but we write to you in your capacity as head of state and as commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force. These steps could have been taken at any time in the past 11 years. Please do not leave it any longer."