Advertisement

Now that he's cast out of royal life, Prince Andrew's legal battle is likely 'his full-time job,' expert says

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Giuffre.Christopher Furlong - WPA Pool/Getty Images; Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
  • Prince Andrew's military titles and royal patronages have been removed by the Queen.

  • As he faces a sexual-assault lawsuit as a private citizen, Andrew's daily life looks different.

  • His days are likely spent with reputation advisors and lawyers, a legal expert said.

The Duke of York has lost his military titles and royal patronages, and his "full-time job" is likely working on his defense against sexual-assault allegations as a private citizen, a legal expert told Insider.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in August, accusing him of sexually assaulting her in 2001, when she was 17. Giuffre alleged that Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in Epstein's New York mansion, in London, and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Insider in 2019 that it "emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts."

Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that Andrew would face the lawsuit as a private citizen and that his military titles and royal patronages would be removed. The duke will no longer use his status as "his royal highness," a royal source told Insider on Thursday.

When Andrew was a working royal, his time was split between representing the Queen at international and UK events and attending events for the royal patronages he supported, according to the royal website.

While the duke stepped back from public duties in 2019, he didn't lose his patronages until last week — which meant he was still able to support different organizations and charities in a private capacity. But now, that has changed.

Now that he's a private citizen, the duke's day-to-day activities should look different — and his legal battle will likely take up most of his time

Andrew likely spends most of his time at the Royal Lodge, his 31-room Georgian mansion in Windsor that he has resided in since 2003, The Times reported. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, is thought to reside in a different wing of the property, the publication added.

Andrew has hosted various parties at the Royal Lodge through the years, and this year appears to be no different. Andrew and Ferguson hosted about a dozen family and friends for a shooting party on Friday, The Sun reported.

royal lodge windsor
The Royal Lodge in 1937.The Print Collector/Getty Images

But Amber Melville-Brown, a legal expert, said most of Andrew's time was likely spent meeting with lawyers, rather than socializing.

"While Prince Andrew might have fewer formal responsibilities today than yesterday, I would expect him to be taking on this litigation as his full-time job," Melville-Brown, the head of the media and reputation practice at the international law firm Withers, told Insider.

Melville-Brown has acted as a media lawyer and reputation advisor for numerous heads of state and wealthy families. She said that while clients such as Andrew were able to have as many visitors as they wanted, his time should be spent "in caffeine-fueled conferences with lawyers and reputation advisors strategizing on just how they are going to extricate him from the litigation and the associated negative media noise."

Representatives for the Duke of York and his attorney Andrew Brettler did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Not all royal family members appear to publicly support the prince amid the litigation

Andrew's youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, was seen visiting him at the property on Monday, the Daily Mail reported.

Another Daily Mail report said Prince Charles and Prince William were "instrumental" in the initial palace discussions about Andrew's removal from royal status. And Charles ignored a reporter's question about his brother during a walk in Aberdeenshire on Friday.

"Fergie and his daughters have remained loyal behind closed doors," Nigel Cawthorne, the author of "Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell and the Palace," told Insider. "Otherwise, he must be shunned by society. Who would want to be seen in his company now?"

Read the original article on Insider