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The former Duke of York will be stripped of his honorary military rank while King Charles aims to draw a line under the ongoing scandal involving his connections with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Removal Process Underway

The former prince is losing his honorary rank of vice-admiral, which he obtained in 2015 and maintained even after giving up other military positions in 2022.

Defence Secretary John Healey announced on Sunday that ministers were working with the king to strip his military titles.

"Typically, the government has been guided by the rulings and determinations the king has made. Regarding military matters, it's precisely identical," the defense secretary said.

Further Repercussions

Asked whether the former duke could lose his military medals as well, Healey responded that they were "medals for his service" and continued: "I don't have an update on that, but similar to his naval title, we would be guided by the judgments the king makes."

Background Context

Mountbatten Windsor has been under renewed scrutiny over his connections with Epstein following the publication of late-published recollections by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17 years old.

Newly released emails demonstrate that the former prince wrote to Epstein in 2010 after the financier got out from jail on charges of soliciting prostitution.

Through email exchanges released on Friday, the disgraced financier proposed that Andrew meet former JP Morgan executive Jes Staley, who was banned from the UK banking sector for life in June for deceiving regulators about his connections to Epstein.

Military Service

The former duke served in the navy for over 20 years, including as a aircraft commander during the 1982 conflict. After a civil case was initiated three years ago, he ceased utilizing most of his armed forces honors but kept the rank of naval commander.

His military retirement pay is his only current source of official earnings after serving between 1979 and 2001, reportedly totaling twenty thousand pounds annually.

Latest Changes

Buckingham Palace officially declared last week he would be stripped of the honors of prince and Duke of York, as well as being made to leave his residence at Royal Lodge and relocate to personal housing in Sandringham.

Palace officials had worked with government employees in the government department to avoid the decision having to be approved by lawmakers, finally deciding that the king should remove the title entirely using his monarchical authority.

While the loss of his titles comes into effect immediately, the ex-royal is not anticipated to vacate Royal Lodge until after Christmas, meaning he will not be in attendance when the royals gather at Sandringham for the holiday.