Queen removes Prince Andrew’s military roles, patronages

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace says that Prince Andrew’s honorary military titles and royal patronages have been returned to Queen Elizabeth II with her “approval and agreement.” The palace statement issued on Thursday came after more than 150 navy and army veterans wrote to the queen asking her to strip Andrew of all his military ranks and titles amid continued legal trouble for the prince, who is embroiled in a sex assault lawsuit in the U.S. A U.S. district judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a civil case against Andrew by an American woman, Virginia Giuffre, who alleges the royal sexually abused her when she was 17. Andrew’s lawyers have said that the royal never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre and that he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.”