Smiling Prince Andrew brushes aside fears Duke title could be stripped

Smiling Prince Andrew brushes aside fears he could be stripped of his Duke of York title as he goes horse riding in Windsor

• This week it emerged he could no longer be considered the Duke of York after ’80 per cent’ of people living in York want association to royal officially ‘broken’
• Prince Andrew rode horses with a male and female groom at Windsor grounds
• A string of woes in recent months have seen him disgraced by the British public

Prince Andrew has been spotted looking very cheery as he rode his horses at Windsor on Saturday – despite fears he may be stripped of his Duke of York title.

Alongside a female and male groom, the Queen’s second son smiled as he trotted through the grounds of Windsor Estate, where he has been seen multiple times in recent months enjoying a riding session.

And on some occasions he has looked particularly downcast during his rides, but the smiling Prince, who wore a raspberry pink shirt under a navy fleece and black helmet, was grinning from ear to ear this afternoon.

He appeared to enjoy the horse ride – despite fears he may be stripped of his Duke of York Title and string of woes which have seen him disgraced by the British public.

This week it emerged he could no longer be considered the Duke of York after ’80 per cent’ of people living in York want their association with the disgraced royal officially ‘broken’.

Prince Andrew has been spotted looking very cheery as he rode his horses at Windsor on Saturday (pictured) – despite fears he may be stripped of his Duke of York title

The Queen gifted her second son the title on his wedding day to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, but residents in the historic city want it removed following the multi-million-pound out-of-court settlement with his accuser Virginia Giuffre earlier this year.

There is currently no mechanism for such a title to be removed, but Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, is seeking to address the gap in the law via her Removal of Titles Bill.

It aims to give the monarch new powers to remove titles or a committee of Parliament to determine that a title should be taken away.

Ms Maskell said her constituents made it clear to her that they wanted the Duke of York’s title to be removed, particularly given York’s recognition as a Human Rights City.

Dignitaries in the city had previously called for him to be stripped of the title for causing ‘deep hurt and embarrassment’ to residents due to his relationship with  paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Before the case was settled in February, the Queen, 96, decided to strip her son of his remaining military affiliations and patronages and forced him to stop using the His Royal Highness title in any official capacity.

It comes after councillors voted unanimously to removed his Freedom of the City of York in April and branded him ‘an utter disgrace’ during the extraordinary meeting to debate his Freedom of the City honour, which was awarded to him in 1987. 

Prince Andrew’s recent string of woes don’t end there – as only last week it was announced that government buildings had effectively barred the Union Jack being flown in his honour for his birthday.

The Queen and Prince Charles became the only royals to keep the privilege.

He appeared to enjoy the horse ride – despite fears he may be stripped of his Duke of York Title and string of woes which have seen him disgraced by the British public

The flag flying days for 2022 which appear to have been changed on February 11 this year also stripped royals William, Kate, Anne, Edward, Camilla and Sophie of the privilege.

It came as the shamed royal faced further woes after lawyers for an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein threatened to serve him with legal papers.

Representatives for Caroline Kaufman say Andrew was visiting Epstein’s home in New York on the night she claims she was raped by the paedophile financier in December 2010.

They want the Duke of York to provide a statement as a potential witness to events in the Upper East Side townhouse during his visit when he was pictured inside the building.

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