Prince Andrew Stripped Of Military Titles: Other Royals Who Have Abdicated, Lost Status

Queen Elizabeth II stripped her son, Prince Andrew, of his military titles and royal patronages on Thursday after a civil sexual abuse lawsuit in the United States was ruled to go to trial. However, he isn’t the first member of the family to face a harsh penalty.

Calls for the Prince’s Royal Highness title to be removed have been made since Virginia Giuffre detailed abuse she suffered at the hands of the late sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, who she claimed forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was underage. Following the start of the scandal, Andrew took a step back from royal duties, but after Giuffre’s civil lawsuit was allowed to proceed, the Queen finally stripped him of his military titles and royal patronages, which will allow him to argue as a private citizen in court.

“With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen,” read a statement from Buckingham Palace.

The Duke of York could be going to court later this year after a judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that the case could continue.

Of course, Andrew was not the first member of the royal family to have titles stripped in recent memory. When King Edward wanted to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson and was not allowed to with his role, he abdicated his throne and the title that came with it in 1936, leaving the title to his younger brother, King George, Queen Elizabeth II’s father.

Edward was the first to voluntarily abdicate, with other instances in history of forced abdications, including the Glorious Revolution in 1688, which removed James II and put Mary II and her husband William III on the throne instead.

Mary Queen of Scots was also forced to abdicate in favor of her son, James VI, in 1542.

In more recent memory, Prince Harry was also stripped of some of his honorary military titles when it was announced in 2020 that he and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, would step down as senior royals. Though they have retained their HRH titles and remain as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, despite living in the United States, Harry was stripped of titles including the Captain-General of the Royal Marines and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving in the Royal Navy. Meghan lost her patronage of the National Theatre as well.