Prince Andrew only has nine months to prepare his defense arguments in the continuation of his legal battle against the sexual assault case filed by his alleged victim Virginia Giuffre. Sadly, a royal commentator believes the Duke of York's civil trial will overshadow Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Express noted the controversial royal's civil case could continue until the end of the year--that is, if the trial does not settle. There are claims Queen Elizabeth has distanced the royal family from Prince Andrew by stripping off his royal titles so that he cannot steal the spotlight from celebrating her 70th anniversary on the throne.
"Royall Us" podcast host Christina Garibaldi said Her Majesty had to remove all of her second son's royal patronages and military titles and he would continue to face his trial as a private citizen, Express noted. The troubled prince has to speak out by July 14, so this event is "going to be dragged out for quite some time."
With that being said, Garibaldi believed it would remain a hot topic for the next few months. In addition, fellow "Royally Us" host Christine Ross said this issue about Prince Andrew seems to be not going away.
She even likened it to a cloud that overshadows Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee. So, she believes the royal title stripping and having him step back from his royal duties is the right thing to do to put him out of the spotlight and distance the royal family "from that image."
For starters, Prince Andrew is currently facing a civil trial in the U.S. over sexual assault allegations filed by Giuffre. This happens as the royal family member's camp failed to throw the lawsuit out of the court, per The Week.
His lawyers tried to dismiss the case after revealing Giuffre's deal with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 20019. However, a New York judge had rejected the motion, citing it was "ambiguous" and did not prove if this agreement covered the prince.
Now, The Guardian reported Prince Andrew might need to give evidence in a high-profile trial that might see him revealing personal information about his life in an open court. The duke has vehemently denied Giuffre's allegations time and over again. He refused the claim that he repeatedly sexually abused her when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein and the latter's alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
