Prince Andrew faces axe as Admiral of the Sea Cadets after 27 years in the post

Prince Andrew could be removed from his role as Admiral of the Sea Cadets after 27 years in the post due to his connections with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

The charity for 10 to 18-year-olds is ‘reviewing’ the Duke of York’s position, which he has held since 1992.

It comes after the Yorkshire Air Ambulance severed ties with the Queen’s favourite son on Wednesday, and senior military leaders called for the ’embarrassing’ Prince to be stripped of his naval roles.

The Queen has already downsized preparations for Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday and barred him from meeting Donald Trump at the NATO summit next week. 

A source told The Mirror: ‘In the near future, His Royal Highness will not be involved any longer. But changes take time and I suspect we are looking at a cooling-off period.’

Another source said that the charity is ‘reviewing’ his position as its nominal head. 

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance decided to drop the royal due to ‘staff, volunteer and donor opinion’.

In a statement they said: ‘Following the recent announcement from Buckingham Palace, along with increasing staff, volunteer and donor opinion, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Trustee Board (at its monthly meeting today) has decided to withdraw from our connection with HRH The Duke of York, and as such, he will no longer be the Royal Patron of the YAA.

‘As a Charity funded generously by public donations, we must seriously consider the opinions of our donors and supporters, and this has been a significant factor in reaching this decision.’

He opened a the ambulance’s new state-of-the-art Simulation Training Suite in July.

Naval sources have also claimed that the Duke, who worked in the Falklands war as a helicopter pilot in 1982, should be ‘quietly faded out’ from his honorary military appointments.

They told The Times that he had become ‘a source of derision’.

One navy source went as far as to say that the Prince should not be able to retain the titles which include his position as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm.

He is also the admiral of the sea cadet corps within the Royal Navy.

‘As a service we would not be rushing to invite him to anything. It’s safe to say there have been grumbles and it seems likely that the post would be passed on’, the source added.

The Sea Cadets was founded more than 160 years ago to give teenagers a chance to stretch themselves both on and off the water and build their confidence. 

Queen Victoria became patron of the cadets in 1899, and gave £10 to the Windsor unit for uniforms (£300 when inflation is taken into account).

MailOnline has contacted the Sea Cadets for comment.

Earlier today, Scotland Yard says it is helping the FBI investigate sex-trafficking allegations against Prince Andrew’s paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein and his network of associates.

For the first time, the Met Police has admitted the force has ‘liaised’ with US law enforcement probing Epstein’s alleged trafficking of women around the world in order to be abused.

One of the specific allegations levelled at the billionaire financier is that he arranged for a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts – now known as Giuffre – to be taken to London in 2001, where she had sex with Prince Andrew.

The Duke of York strenuously denies claims he partied with the teenager at Tramp nightclub before going back to Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell’s house, in west London.

The Met confirmed an allegation of historic trafficking for sexual exploitation was made in July 2015 and that although the force had ‘not received a formal request’ over the allegation, discussions with US investigators had taken place. 

However, the investigation in London was shelved around 17 months later when officers decided that as the investigation into human trafficking was ‘largely focused on activities and relationships outside the UK’ the complaint would no longer be actively pursued.

Since Epstein was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in August this year, the Met said its investigation would remain closed. 

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon made the initial decision to close the complaint by Miss Roberts. 

At the time he was the commander in charge of specialist crime investigations.

A review of the decision not to pursue the claims, which the Met confirmed in August had been carried out, was made by Alex Murray, now the Met Police Commander for Specialist Crime.

Today Commander Alex Murray said: ‘Officers assessed the available evidence, interviewed the complainant and obtained early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘Following the legal advice, it was clear that any investigation into human trafficking would be largely focused on activities and relationships outside the UK.

‘The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has liaised with other law enforcement organisations but has not received a formal request asking for assistance in connection with this allegation.’ 

Associates of Epstein, including Maxwell and Prince Andrew, have faced calls to give statements to the FBI over what they saw during their time at his properties in Florida, New York and his private island in the Caribbean – Little St James.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight earlier this month, Prince Andrew said he would co-operate with the FBI if he was asked to give a statement.

He denied ever witnessing any wrongdoing by Epstein during the course of the friendship, which saw the prince regularly stay at the billionaire’s home. Epstein even visited Windsor Castle and Sandringham, along with Maxwell who had known Andrew for much longer. 

It also emerged last night that Prince Andrew faces being stripped of his role in the Sea Cadets as the fallout from his connections to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein continue.

The embattled prince has already faced calls to be removed from many of his other naval duties following his car crash BBC Newsnight interview earlier this month.

But now he could also be axed as Admiral of the Sea Cadets – a nominal figurehead role he has held since 1992.

A source at the charity for ten to 18-year-olds told the Mirror it was ‘reviewing’ the Duke of York’s position, with another adding that after a ‘cooling off period’, he ‘will not be involved any longer’. 

Senior military leaders have called for the ’embarrassing’ prince to be stripped of some of the 58 other honorary military roles.

Sources in the navy claim the Duke of York, who previously worked as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands war, has become an embarrassment and should be ‘quietly faded out’ from his honorary military appointments.

During the BBC interview, Andrew denied claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, Virginia Roberts, but admitted he had ‘let the side down’ when he visited Epstein’s home in New York – two years after the billionaire financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

As charities continue to severe their links with the disgraced duke, this latest revelation will come as a blow to the royals who have been trying to keep Prince Andrew away from the spot light, even shunning him from meeting President Donald Trump next week. 

The armed forces are bound by allegiance to the Queen which could make it difficult for them to take action.

Speaking to The Times on Wednesday senior current and former personnel in the navy and army said Prince Andrew had become a ‘source of derision’.

One navy source said Prince Andrew should not be able to retain the titles which include his position as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm.

He is also the admiral of the sea cadet corps within the Royal Navy.

‘As a service we would not be rushing to invite him to anything. It’s safe to say there have been grumbles and it seems likely that the post would be passed on’, the source added.

Prince Andrew is also the colonel of the Grenadier Guards and holds four other colonel-in-chief titles.

It was also suggested that the duke had become a joke after stating on the Newsnight interview that he was unable to sweat after his experiences in the Falklands.

They said: ‘It’s embarrassing to be represented by someone like that’. Adding that it came to a surprise to many who had previously served in combat.

It was also claimed that Prince Andrew’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his reluctance to help authorities with their enquiries was not in line with army values.

Charities began to distance themselves from Andrew in the immediate wake of the Newsnight broadcast.

Andrew agreed to withdraw from public duty but initially wanted to remain a figurehead for some 200 charities and other affiliations. 

But he was forced to back down after many made it clear they no longer wanted his backing.

At least 23 organisations have either dropped him or accepted his resignation, including the English National Ballet, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Outward Bound Trust.

Several sponsors have also dropped their backing for his Pitch@Palace business initiative and the project has been told to find offices outside of Buckingham Palace.

In 2017 the Duke of Edinburgh withdrew from public life and the source claimed that this should be the course Prince Andrew takes, and that he could be replaced as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm by Prince Charles’ eldest son William.

While there were calls for him to step down, another source claimed his naval career had been ‘mediocre’ and that he had previously been told he wasn’t going to get command as he ‘wasn’t up to it’.

Others claimed there was a ‘mass hysteria’ around his involvement with Epstein, but stated he shouldn’t have done the BBC interview as it was ‘stupid’.

Prince Andrew is currently on secondment from the Ministry of Defence and a royal source told The Times that he would be keeping his military commands.

‘He knows what happened, I know what happened – only one of us is telling the truth’: First clip of Virginia Roberts’ explosive Panorama interview on Prince Andrew is released 

By Sebastian Murphy-bates For Mailonline

The first clip of Epstein trafficking victim Virginia Roberts’ explosive Panorama interview has surfaced showing her repeating her claim that Prince Andrew slept with her.

The hour-long special, which airs on BBC One on Monday was recorded before the Duke’s disastrous Newsnight interview, in which he denied the allegation.

But Virginia, who is now married and has the surname Giuffre, tells the show: ‘It was a really scary time in my life.

‘He knows what happened, I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth.’

The duke has withdrawn from public duties after he was widely criticised for failing to show remorse for his friendship or much empathy with Epstein’s alleged victims during his television appearance. 

He has resigned from a large number of patronages or seen organisations he was once involved with sever ties.

Ms Giuffre has claimed in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17, under the state’s age of consent.

Her allegations, which Andrew strenuously denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were ‘immaterial and impertinent’.

It follows Andrew’s attempt to defend himself against Ms Giuffre’s accusations and explain his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein during an interview on BBC’s Newsnight which was branded a ‘car crash’.

In the interview, the duke denied Ms Giuffre’s claims and said an alleged encounter with her in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express in Woking for a party.

Ms Giuffre alleged the duke sweated heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp.

During the interview, Andrew said he had a medical condition at the time, after suffering an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when he was shot at, which meant he did not sweat.

The duke has withdrawn from public duties after he was widely criticised for failing to show remorse for his friendship with Epstein, or empathy for the alleged victims during his television appearance.

He has resigned from a large number of patronages, and seen organisations he was once involved with sever ties.

Ms Giuffre has claimed in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17, below the state’s age of consent.

Her allegations, which Andrew strenuously denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were ‘immaterial and impertinent’.

Buckingham Palace has branded the allegations ‘false and without any foundation’, stating: ‘Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors by the duke was ‘categorically untrue’.

Ms Giuffre has criticised the Metropolitan Police for failing to investigate her allegations.

The Met said it stands by its decision not to investigate claims by the duke’s accuser, and added that officers had spoken to other law enforcement agencies but have ‘not received a formal request asking for assistance’.

It said it reviewed its previous decision that it was ‘not the appropriate authority to conduct inquiries in these circumstances’ following Epstein’s death in August, and that its position remained unchanged.

Epstein killed himself in August in a New York prison while he was being held on sex trafficking charges.

Buckingham Palace has branded the allegations levelled at Andrew as ‘false and without any foundation’, stating: ‘Any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors’ by the duke was ‘categorically untrue.’