Did Prince Andrew lose his HRH title on his 60th birthday? Many royal fans are convinced Queen Elizabeth stripped her favorite son of this honor when the royal family greeted the Duke of York on social media for his milestone year.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, The Royal Family social media account posted photos and a greeting for Prince Andrew's 60th birthday. The message simply stated, "Happy Birthday to The Duke of York," and had an anecdote about his birth in Buckingham Palace. The Royal Family social media profile represents Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
As one observant royalist posted on Twitter, however, the birthday greeting was missing an HRH (His Royal Highness). Gert's Royal shared that in the past years, Buckingham Palace's birthday greeting for the Queen's third child had the HRH on his name.
A spokesperson from Buckingham Palace told Daily Star that the birthday tweet from Feb. 19 is in accordance with its "house style." As the Duke of York stepped back from his public duties indefinitely since November 2019, he is still a member of the royal family.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles did not post a birthday greeting for his younger brother via the Clarence House social media account. Instead, the update on Feb. 19 highlighted the Prince of Wales' speech about the environment for the Countryside Steering Committee in Wales.
Royal observers said that Clarence House posted birthday greetings for most of the members of the royal family last year. Thus, many believe this was a deliberate snub from Prince Charles because of his brother's controversies.
Prince Andrew had no choice but to step down from his royal duties since the public was enraged with his friendship with the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke of York attempted to clarify his association with the sex trafficker but his BBC interview worsened public perception about the royal.
Horrified by his revelations and demeanor in the interview, some organizations supporting Prince Andrew's patronages decided to drop their support. This prompted the Queen's son to leave the royal limelight until the controversy would die down.
However, it doesn't look like the public will forget Prince Andrew's links to Epstein. A source told The Sun that Prince Charles and the Queen are concerned that the investigations to Epstein's activities in the U.S. courts will involve the royal. If so, Prince Andrew's return to public life could likely never happen anymore.
