Prince Andrew vows to defend himself in Virginia Giuffre sex abuse case as Queen strips him of his titles

 

 Prince Andrew has vowed to defend himself against the civil lawsuit by sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre as the Queen strips him of his titles.

 

The Duke of York's military titles and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen, Buckingham Palace announced this evening, Jan. 13. 

 

The move comes after Andrew's lawyers failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him that accuses him of sexually abusing Ms Giuffre when she was 17— which he vehemently denies.

 

A source close to the Duke told Sun Online: “Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling.

 

"However, it was not a judgement on the merits of Ms Giuffre’s allegations. 

 

"This is a marathon not a sprint and the Duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.”

 

Andrew had been expected to agree to an out-of-court settlement with Ms Giuffre.

 

It was understood that he was set to pay £10million from the sale of his Swiss chalet to make this possible.