Prince Andrew has finally decided to give up his titles – but we have known the shape of the allegations against him for years. Why was there a collective decision to look away?
On the eve of the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s book Nobody’s Girl, released six months after her death from despair, Buckingham Palace is apparently braced for fresh revelations. Many MPs are calling for a change in the law, to give King Charles or a parliamentary committee the power to remove royal titles, with Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, pleading with parliament to take seriously this opportunity to “address the wrongs of history and to ensure that the voices of victims and survivors are really heard and acted upon”. A source at the palace told the BBC they expected “more days of pain ahead”.
Getting ahead of these “days of pain”, Prince Andrew – he continues to hold the title he was born with – announced last Friday that he was relinquishing his use of “Duke of York” and “KG”, knight of the garter. In a statement, he said that after discussions with the king he had decided to give up the titles “to put my duty to my family and country first”. He has consistently denied all of Giuffre’s allegations against him.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...
