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The Duke of York is facing calls to pay for his own security and lose his dukedom as the fallout from his civil sex case continues.
Criticism of Andrew is mounting after the Queen stripped him of his remaining patronages and honorary military roles as the monarchy distanced itself from the duke ahead of potentially damaging developments in his lawsuit.
Graham Smith, chief executive officer of the organisation Republic, called on the Queen’s second son to foot the bill for his police protection as there was no prospect of him returning to royal duties.
During a radio interview, security minister Damian Hinds refused to confirm whether the duke will still receive taxpayer-funded security.
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, tweeted it was “untenable” for Andrew to cling on to his title “another day longer” and Darryl Smalley, a senior member of City of York Council, launched a campaign to strip Andrew of his dukedom.
The Prince of Wales did not respond when questioned about the sex scandal which has engulfed his brother, during a visit to the north east of Scotland to meet people who helped in the clear-up operation after Storm Arwen.
Charles was involved in the royal family discussions with the Queen and Duke of Cambridge that resulted in Andrew losing his military roles, patronages and dropping his HRH style.
But when he arrived at Haddo House and Country Park, the heir to the throne did not comment when a broadcaster from Sky said: “Your Royal Highness, can I ask you your view on your brother’s position, Prince Andrew? How do you view it?”
Mr Smith, whose organisation campaigns for an elected head of state, said about the royal family: “Why should we be paying for their security? The job of the monarchy is to give us one head of state – we don’t need to be giving security to all of them. Lots of celebrities and other high-profile people pay for their own security.
“Given that he’s no longer in any real sense a member of the royal household it does make sense he pays for his own security.”
He said about the Queen’s decision to strip the duke of his military affiliations: “This is all about protecting the monarchy, it’s not about a mother doing the right thing by her son and it’s not about worrying about the justice for the women abused by Epstein and his friends, it’s about protecting the royals for the future generations.”
Andrew’s dramatic fall in the standing of the royal family came after Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against him took a major step forward on Wednesday when a judge threw out a motion by the duke’s lawyers to dismiss the sexual assault case and ruled it can go to trial.
Ms Virginia, reacting publicly to the decision, tweeted she has the opportunity to “expose the truth”, adding: “My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable.”
She is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew’s friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law.
The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.
Through his title Duke of York, Andrew and his immediate family have a close connection with the city of York but some of its politicians want to sever those ties.
Mr Smalley, Liberal Democrat executive member for culture, leisure and communities at the City of York Council, said: “Whilst Prince Andrew remains innocent until proven guilty, Buckingham Palace and the Government must consider the implications of these troubling allegations moving forward.
“Having been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen, he should also now relinquish his title as Duke of York.”
Media lawyer Mark Stephens said the duke now had no choice but to reach an out of court settlement with Ms Giuffre to limit the damage to the royal family, following the judge’s decision to throw a “grenade” into the monarchy and rule a trial will be held.
Mr Stephens said: “Andrew has to settle. His position is bad, he’s reputationally done – particularly now the royal family have essentially pushed him into a locked and unheated turret in Balmoral.
“And the only thing he can do is throw himself on the grenade Judge Lewis A Kaplan threw into the family and take the hit for the wider family. That means we won’t be talking about his trial rather the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”
A source close to the duke has said: “This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.”
