Sources close to the royal family said Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson would still retain her title and continue as duchess, and a royal expert said Sarah could become princess if Prince Andrew's ducal title was stripped away. But andrew has been stripped of his rank and royal patronage, so why does his ex-wife still support him without hesitation?
Royal expert Dickie Abbit pointed out that if Prince Andrew is stripped of his ducal title, Sarah Ferguson could become "Princess Sarah Andrew" because he will still hold the title of prince. Royal commentators tweeted: "There are a lot of rumors about Prince Andrew being stripped of his dukehood. Let those who call for the idea pass what that means. The monarch's son Andrew was a prince. Take the dukedom, what do you have? His ex-wife, who divorced him, or became Princess Sarah Andrew. ”
Recently, the British royal family has stripped Prince Andrew of his rank and royal patronage, and Andrew will not be able to use the title of "His Highness (HRH)" in official occasions. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew faces a civil lawsuit filed against him in New York by American woman Virginia Euphoria, who accuses him of sexual assault. Prince Andrew has consistently denied the allegation. Like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Prince Andrew retained the title of "His Highness", but could not use it in any official setting. After losing his military rank and the right to use the title of His Highness, he will continue to assume no public responsibility and defend the case as an ordinary citizen.
But Andrew received the title of "Prince" from birth, and he remained Duke of York, the Duke of York as a knighthood. Sources close to Sarah, Duchess of York, said she would also retain the title and continue as Duchess. One source said: "It has been her title since they divorced, and that's her title. Andrew was still the Duke of York, so it wasn't a problem. Another source said Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie would also retain their titles.
Even if Andrew's title is stripped away, his ex-wife will retain the title and continue to serve as duchess. In an interview with the Daily Mail, they said: "Sarah has absolutely no intention of hiding from the spotlight. Why should she back down? She and her daughters didn't do anything wrong, and they were 100% confident that Andrew hadn't done anything wrong either. Sarah often identifies herself as Sarah, Duchess of York, on the covers of books she writes, and her Twitter account is Sarah The Duchess. The Duke and Duchess of York divorced in 1996, but Sarah was able to retain her title until she remarried.
Prince Andrew's title has changed recently, with Judge Lewis Kaplan ruling that civil cases against the royal family can continue. Andrew's defense team had tried to dismiss the case by citing a 2009 settlement agreement signed between Ms Virginia and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which required Ms Virginia to agree not to prosecute any "potential defendants."
Prince Andrew is facing a civil case in the United States accusing him of sexually abusing 17-year-old Ms. Virginia in 2001. Ms. Virginia claims she was trafficked by Epstein and convicted sex offender Gislan Maxwell and then, sexually abused by Prince Andrew. But the 61-year-old royal has repeatedly strenuously denied the allegations.
A royal source said the Queen was "saddened" by having to strip her young son Andrew of the title, but added that Andrew had been "cornered". They told the Daily Mail: "So far Buckingham Palace's hesitations have been due to their determination not to let people see judgments on the allegations. It is not their duty, and there are court proceedings that can determine this.
But what happened this week said Andrew is now in a world where his name will never be purged — whether he wins or loses, "and it's clearly unacceptable to have a member of the royal family use their title to defend himself when he goes to court." The recent civil lawsuit means anything andrew has nowhere to go. ”