Prince Andrew Must Be Stripped Off HRH Title, Royal Expert Says

Prince Andrew should be stripped off his title as His Royal Highness (HRH). The Duke of York hasn't been performing his royal duties and has been virtually retired since announcing that he is stepping back as a working royal in November 2019.

Royal author Nigel Cawthorne, the writer of the biography Prince Andrew: Epstein and the Palace, said that Prince Andrew needs to give up the HRH title as soon as possible. Along with this, the Duke of York must also stop receiving money from the Privy Purse.  

Piers Morgan, the host of Good Morning Britain, also agreed that Prince Andrew must give up the HRH title. According to the host, the royal brought disgrace to his family because of his association with the pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein thus he doesn't deserve the HRH distinction. 

But the royal family might have already dropped Prince Andrew's HRH title without any official announcement. In February, royal observers noted that the Royal Family Twitter account greeted Prince Andrew on his 60th birthday and didn't use HRH to address him. 

The calls for Prince Andrew to be stripped off the HRH honor comes as he has been asked to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in their investigations of his friend, Jeffrey Epstein's sexual trafficking case. The DOJ apparently sent a formal notice to the U.K. Home Office about questioning Prince Andrew of what he knows of his friend's activities. 

Epstein could no longer provide clarity to his case nor face his accusers because he took his own life in prison in 2019, as he awaited his trial. The DOJ made it clear that they were not after the royal, who, reportedly, want the U.S. agency to send him an "olive branch." 

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Geoffrey S. Berman said that Prince Andrew still has not agreed to be interviewed by the federal authorities. Despite his public pronouncements that he is willing to cooperate with concerned agencies, Prince Andrew continues to decline the DOJ's requests. 

Meanwhile, palace sources believe that Prince Andrew is permanently retired from his royal work. The royal family is apparently not discussing his status and sources claimed his presence has been "toxic." 

Prince Andrew has been hoping his step back was only temporary until the furor over the Epstein case subsides. However, apart from this controversy, the Duke of York is also embroiled in a legal embarrassment over an unpaid purchase of a Swiss villa. Prince Andrew was also asked to pay back the money from a charity to pay one of his staff as this was an unauthorized transaction.