Prince Andrew has given up his honorary membership at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews as he faces an American civil case for sexual assault.
Queen Elizabeth II’s second son has been effectively stripped of his position in royal life after Buckingham Palace announced earlier this month that he had relinquished his military honorary titles and charitable roles.
“The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has been notified that the Duke of York will relinquish his honorary membership,” said a spokesman for the private member’s club northeast of Edinburgh. “We respect and appreciate his decision.”
Andrew’s prosecutor, Virginia Giuffre, said she had sex with the prince when she was 17 after she was met by the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison two years ago while awaiting trial. for sex crimes.
The prince, who is seeking a jury trial to clear his name, has not been criminally charged and has vehemently denied the allegations.
In other signs of social exclusion, York Racecourse in the North of England announced that it was renaming an event called The Duke of York Stakes – even though it referred to an earlier bearer of the title.
And a police station in the south of England has removed a memorial plaque saying it was opened by the Duke of York, citing a complaint from a member of the public, the BBC reported.
© Agence France-Presse
