Since 2019, Prince Andreu's legal case has become black history for the monarchy. He gave an interview to Newsnight in which he was widely praised as "tragic" after Virginia Giuffre accused him of having sexual relations with the Duke of York when he was a minor. The prince denied the allegations and also denied knowing Giuffre in the interview. The case was about Andrew's alleged friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, but now that Epstein's fixer, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been convicted, eyes have turned back to Andrew and his ongoing court battle with Giuffre. Some are now suggesting that Prince Andrew could be stripped of his royal title regardless of the outcome of the trial.

Prince Andrew has stepped back from public duties and, with the exception of statements he made after the death of his father, Prince Philip, has largely disappeared from the public eye. But that hasn't stopped the public from reacting when news of the lawsuit breaks. Last month, a woman violently slammed the window of Prince Andreu's car on the way to Windsor for the Royal Family's holiday festivities. And shortly before that, the phrase #AbolishtheMonarchy trended on Twitter in response to news of the lawsuit.

But while he has been permanently stripped of his royal responsibilities, Prince Andreu's title remains intact, and according to Express UK, stripping him of his royal title is a bit complicated. For one thing, there is the matter of his military titles, of which he is the regimental commander of nine regiments. Andrew could publicly relinquish these, and the Queen would have to remove them, although, according to the magazine, "the majority of senior commanders believe it is impossible for the Duke of York to continue in that role."

Many believe that the outcome of the trial is irrelevant to whether Andrew should continue to hold the knighthood." Some senior officers claim that Andrew's reputation has been so badly damaged by the sex abuse allegations and his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell that he can never again attend a military ceremony. One source said, "Even if Andrew is completely exonerated from any wrongdoing, he is now seen as toxic. He is expected to do the decent thing and resign."

The source added, "He is not a good person.

As for stripping the Duke of York of his title, the magazine said it would be "extremely unusual."

However, downgrading Prince Andrew in any way is considered a popular move; Nigel Cawthorne, author of Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell and the Palace (opens in new tab) Cawthorne, told the site, "The thorough and critical investigation by Buckingham Palace into Prince Andrew's title, including HRH, is long overdue. He continued." Whether the report has waited too long to put sufficient distance between the Prince's failure to choose a friend and the Palace's own inaction on the problematic headlines that counted for 15 years is a moot question." In other words, the damage is done, and cutting Andrew loose may be necessary to preserve the monarchy.

Cawthorne also points out that other royals have been stripped of their military titles for much worse reasons. For example, Prince Harry was forced to relinquish his military title when he left his royal duties and moved to the United States with Meghan Markle. The authors say that "other senior royals have been restricted from royal paraphernalia in circumstances that are unlikely to embarrass the monarch or put him in constitutional jeopardy."

Whatever the actual outcome of the trial with Prince Andrew, bad press and questionable support by others in the royal family are likely to tarnish the reputation of the monarchy for years to come. Some experts suggest that removing Andrew's title may be the only way to save face.