Prince Andrew felt ‘ambushed’ into giving up his royal titles and ‘forced to step down’

Prince Andrew felt ambushed into giving up his royal titles and is now planning a ‘fightback’, friends claim.

It comes after his accuser Virginia Giuffre dropped her case against top US lawyer Alan Dershowitz last week, saying she ‘may have made a mistake’ in claiming he abused her.

The Duke of York is said to be increasingly frustrated at being silenced by his settlement Miss Giuffre.

Andrew, 62, paid Giuffre, 39, a reported £12million to settle a civil case in which she accused him of sexual abuse. He has consistently and vehemently denied the claims.

Sources close to Andrew say he feels constrained by the legal agreement and wants to fight back in light of the latest development. He reportedly felt blindsided when he was urged to resign from royal life in meetings with senior aides in January.

A source told The Sun on Sunday: ‘It was like a pressure cooker. There was no room to breathe.

‘He didn’t understand the consequences. He was essentially forced to step down. He felt ambushed.’

The prince stepped down after the judge overseeing Miss Giuffre’s legal action in New York rejected Andrew’s application to throw out the case in January.

The next day, the Duke was summoned to Windsor Castle, where sources told the newspaper he felt he was ambushed by a trio of senior royal aides.

Those present were Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, who has stayed on in his role for the King, the then-Lord Chamberlain, Lord Andrew Parker, and Sir Michael Stevens, the Keeper of the Privy Purse.

Under ‘immense pressure’, Andrew agreed to fight the case as a private citizen. 

But he reportedly claims he was led to believe his titles and patronages would be put on hold ‘under the protection of his mother’ until his legal affairs were in order.

Andrew, 62, paid Giuffre, 39, a reported £12 million to settle a civil case in which she accused him of sexual abuse. He has consistently and vehemently denied the claims. This photo was developed in 2001, when Giuffre was 17

Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre (left), last week dropped a case she had brought against American lawyer Alan Dershowitz, saying she ‘may have made a mistake’ when she accused him of sexual abuse. Giuffre pictured here with her lawyer David Boies in 2019

Miss Giuffre also sued Mr Dershowitz in 2019, alleging he defamed her when he denied claims she had been trafficked to the attorney by Epstein between 2000 and 2002. 

But she agreed to drop the allegations on Tuesday and admitted she ‘may have made a mistake’ when she also accused him of sexual abuse.

It is understood that Andrew and Dershowitz are communicating with each other through a third party.

Those close to him told the newspaper that the Duke of York is ‘regaining his strength and ready to fight’.

But just how Andrew will stage his fightback remains to be seen. He signed a gagging order which stops him from denying that he had sex with Giuffre when she was 17.

She claims she was held as a sex slave by late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and abused by him, his then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and members of their social circle over a number of years.

Prince Andrew was last night said to be planning a ‘fightback’. He is pictured here attending a shoot with Princess Anne, Prince Edward and other members of the Royal Family on the Windsor estate on Saturday

The Duke of York is expected to be invited for Christmas at Sandringham.

But he was not present at the Cenotaph yesterday, as he is no longer able to take part in Royal events.

He was also absent from the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall on Saturday night, which included commemoration of those who fought in the Falklands conflict in 1982, in which Andrew served with the Royal Navy.

He is said to have been ‘bereft’ and in tears when the King made it clear to him that there would be no way back for him at ‘the Firm’.