Prince Andrew used his stripped royal title in a now-deleted Instagram post shared on his ex-wife's account

• Sarah Ferguson posted three now-deleted Instagram posts, apparently on behalf of Prince Andrew.
• Andrew signed one post with "HRH," his former title that he was stripped of in January.

Prince Andrew appeared to use his royal title even though it was removed in January.

Over the weekend, Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, shared three now-deleted Instagram posts with photos of the prince, 62, as the Daily Mail and People have reported.

The posts appeared to be shared on Andrew's behalf, with the Daily Mail's William Cole reporting that the prince's message amounted to over 700 words. Andrew's social-media accounts, including his @hrhdukeofyork Instagram account, were set to private or shut down in January.

The message, split across the posts, referenced the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War, which began on April 2, 1982, and in which Andrew served with the Royal Navy, flying missions as Sea King helicopter pilot. The war lasted just six weeks.

The now-deleted posts included three photos showing Andrew during his time serving in the war, according to the Daily Mail.

In the caption of the last post, the Duke of York said he went into the war "full of bravado" and "returned a changed man," and concluded with "Written by HRH The Duke of York," as seen in a screenshot shared by the Daily Mail.

According to People, the caption was edited to remove the reference to "HRH" soon after it was shared, and later deleted along with the accompanying posts. At the time of writing, the posts no longer appear on Ferguson's Instagram account; the Daily Mail reports that they were removed after approximately two hours.

Queen Elizabeth stripped the duke of his royal highness status, his royal patronages, and his military duties in January amidst his now-settled sexual-assault trial, as Insider previously reported. The removal of his title and duties was intended to allow Andrew to defend himself against the suit as a private citizen, according to a statement from the royal family shared with Insider at the time.

"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in the statement. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."

A royal source also told Insider that the prince would not use the HRH title in any official capacity at the time.

Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in August 2021, accusing him of sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions in Jeffrey Epstein's homes in the early 2000s. On February 15, Andrew settled Guiffre's lawsuit outside of court, according to documents obtained by Insider, though he did not admit to assaulting Guiffre in the settlement, nor was the sum Guiffre was allotted shared.

The Duke of York made his first public appearance since the settlement last week, escorting the Queen to Prince Philip's memorial service on Tuesday at her request, despite concerns from Prince William and Prince Charles about how the appearance looked, a source told The Mirror. A source told the Daily Mail that William and Charles were "dismayed" by the Queen's choice.