Senior military leaders ‘call for “embarrassing” Duke of York to be stripped of his naval roles’ in wake of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

• Sources claim Prince Andrew was ‘stupid’ to have done the BBC interview
• Holds 59 honorary positions and there are calls for him to be ‘quietly faded out’
• Current and former military personnel in the navy said he is a ‘source of derision’ 

Prince Andrew (pictured above in military attire) has 59 honorary positions

Senior military leaders have called for ’embarrassing’ Prince Andrew to be stripped of his naval roles following his car crash BBC Newsnight interview earlier this month.

Sources in the service claim the Duke of York, who previously worked as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands war, has become an embarrassment and should be ‘quietly faded out’ from his honorary military appointments.

As charities continue to severe their links with the disgraced duke, this latest revelation will come as a blow to the royals who have been trying to keep Prince Andrew away from the spot light, even shunning him from meeting President Donald Trump next week.

Prince Andrew holds 59 honorary positions.

The armed forces are bound by allegiance to the Queen which could make it difficult for them to take action.

Speaking to The Times senior current and former personnel in the navy and army said Prince Andrew had become a ‘source of derision’.

Queen BANS Prince Andrew from meeting Donald Trump  

As US president Donald Trump prepares to visit the UK on Tuesday, the Queen is thought to have banned Prince Andrew from meeting him.

The Duke has not been named by Buckingham Palace on the list of Royals who will be attending the welcome.

Trump will be welcomed by the royals next week 

Both the Queen and the Prince of Wales will be in attendance as well as the Duchess of Cambridge.

It comes after Prince Andrew’s interview on the BBC received backlash as he failed to show sympathy to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. 

One navy source said Prince Andrew should not be able to retain the titles which include his position as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm.

He is also the admiral of the sea cadet corps within the Royal Navy.

‘As a service we would not be rushing to invite him to anything. It’s safe to say there have been grumbles and it seems likely that the post would be passed on’, the source added.

Prince Andrew is also the colonel of the Grenadier Guards and holds four other colonel-in-chief titles.

It was also suggested that the duke had become a joke after stating on the Newsnight interview that he was unable to sweat after his experiences in the Falklands.

They said: ‘It’s embarrassing to be represented by someone like that’. Adding that it came to a surprise to many who had previously served in combat.

It was also claimed that Prince Andrew’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his reluctance to help authorities with their enquiries was not in line with army values.

In 2017 the Duke of Edinburgh withdrew from public life and the source claimed that this should be what Prince Andrew does next, and that he could be replaced as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm by Prince Charles’ eldest son William.

Prince Andrew returns from the Falklands War on September 17, 1982, on board HMS Invincible

While there were calls for him to step down, another source claimed his naval career had been ‘mediocre’ and that he had previously been told he wasn’t going to get command as he ‘wasn’t up to it’.

Others claimed there was a ‘mass hysteria’ around his involvement with Epstein, but stated he shouldn’t have done the BBC interview as it was ‘stupid’.

Prince Andrew is currently on secondment from the Ministry of Defence and a royal source told The Times that he would be keeping his military commands.

Prince Charles ‘to take on role as Prince Regent’: Heir to the throne meets his father to discuss taking control of family affairs as Queen, 93, prepares to ‘retire’ within 18 months

by RORY TINGLE for MailOnline 

Prince Charles met Prince Philip at Sandringham to discuss the continuing fallout from his brother’s disastrous TV interview amid reports he is preparing to take over leadership of the Royals when the Queen turns 95. 

The Prince of Wales’ key role in ‘retiring’ Prince Andrew from public life has fed speculation he is preparing to adopt a modern ‘Prince Regent’ role, which would see him control day-to-day royal affairs while his mother remains monarch. 

Her Majesty will turn 95 in 18 months – the same age at which her husband Philip withdrew from his public duties – and there is talk among courtiers that she may use the milestone to effectively hand over day-to-day control of the monarchy to Charles. 

The Prince of Wales’ key role in ‘retiring’ Prince Andrew from public life has fed speculation he is preparing to adopt a modern ‘Prince Regent’ role

Charles – pictured laying a wreath at the Cenotaph – has been gradually taking on more responsibility 

A royal source told The Sun: ‘The scandal surrounding Andrew and Epstein gave Charles an opportunity to step in to show that he can run The Firm. No one is bigger than the institution of the Royal Family. Not even Andrew, the Queen’s favourite son.

‘Charles recognised that and acted decisively — like the king he may well soon be. This was the moment when Charles stepped up as Prince Regent, the Shadow King.’

From gorging on food and alcohol to keeping several mistresses (at once!): Heady days of the last Prince Regent

The last Prince Regent was appointed in 1811 after George III suffered episodes of mental illness and his eldest son was asked to take over his duties. 

Affectionately known as Prinny, the future George IV, was notorious for his hedonism – drinking, eating to excess and keeping several mistresses at once. 

The Regency, which lasted until his father’s death in 1820, was tumultuous.

Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in 1812 and, with the Napoleonic Wars raging, taxpayers were riled by the Regent’s spending. 

His failed attempts at divorcing Caroline of Brunswick also caused a scandal. 

He died after ten years on the throne and was succeeded by his brother, William IV.

The Queen has been gradually reducing the number of public engagements she attends from 332 in 2016 to a still impressive 283 in 2018. Charles, meanwhile, undertook 507. 

Yesterday, Charles headed straight to the Queen’s Norfolk estate after landing in the UK from an official tour of New Zealand and the Solomon Islands to visit Prince Philip.

Philip, 98, spends most of his time at Wood Farm, a small residence on the estate, and it is understood that the heir to the throne will spend several days with the increasingly frail prince.

Many courtiers feel that since the Queen’s husband, who used to rule his family with an iron fist, retired from public life, ‘discipline’ within the royal family has not been what it should be – hence Andrew’s virtually autonomous decision to go ahead with his disastrous Newsnight interview over his controversial friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

It’s is believed that Charles will seek his father’s counsel over what the family should do next as well as spend a few days together, enjoying each other’s company.

Charles, 71, was in New Zealand with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, on a hugely successful tour on behalf of the British Government when news broke about the interview.

But he moved decisively with the Queen to demand that Andrew step down from public duties to deal with the scandal.

Meanwhile, sources have told the Mail that Charles will not be having any kind of immediate ‘showdown’ with his brother, as has been claimed.

Indeed, it is understood that he has no plans to meet with his brother, although it is inevitable that the issue will be discussed over the coming weeks.

Royal sources have said the discipline in the household has not been the same since Prince Philip (above) retired

It is thought that Charles, who discussed the crisis with his mother over the phone last week, feels that decisive enough action was taken over the scandal and there is no need to add to his brother’s difficulties by summoning him.

But he will be kept abreast of developments by staff and will inevitably sit down with Andrew at some point in the future.

Charles is long known to have wanted to see a slimmed-down monarchy in the future, and one that doesn’t necessarily include his younger brother or his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Andrew’s humiliation was compounded after Buckingham Palace revealed that every senior member of the royal family who was available to work would be joining the Queen to welcome NATO leaders, including Donald Trump, at a high profile summit on Tuesday.

The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will formally receive the leaders and their partners, before being joined by the Duchess of Cambridge, The Earl of Wessex, The Princess Royal, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra in the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace.

Andrew, 59, who played a leading role in President Trump’s state visit to the UK earlier this year, would have joined them had he not stepped back from public life.

The only other absentees are the Duke of Cambridge and Countess of Wessex, who have other official engagements on the night, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who have taken a leave of absence from royal duties.

The trip to Sandringham (above) will also allow the family to spend some quality time together

Earlier this week it was revealed that Princess Beatrice and her mother Sarah Ferguson both tried to talk Andrew out of giving the BBC interview. 

They both cautioned him against doing the programme, while his then private secretary Amanda Thirsk was more gung-ho, thinking it could offer him a chance to draw a line under his association with Jeffrey Epstein. 

‘Princess Beatrice and Sarah both advised Andrew against going ahead with the interview,’ a friend claims. ‘However, he paid too much attention to Amanda, who was encouraging him, saying it would clear his name.’ 

How Duke of York’s annual meetings with Epstein including after he was sent to jail caused Prince Andrew decades of trouble

Here is a timeline of the duke’s relationship with Epstein.

– 1999

Andrew first meets Epstein, reportedly introduced through his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell.

Andrew welcomes Epstein to the Queen’s private Scottish retreat in Aberdeenshire. Andrew later says he sees Epstein ‘infrequently’, adding ‘probably no more than only once or twice a year’.

– 2000

Andrew and Ms Maxwell are seen on holiday with Epstein at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Epstein and Ms Maxwell attend a party at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen to mark Andrew’s 40th birthday, the Princess Royal’s 50th, the Queen Mother’s 100th and Princess Margaret’s 70th.

– 2001

Virginia Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew ‘three times, including one orgy’, with the first encounter allegedly taking place in Ms Maxwell’s London townhouse. Ms Roberts claims to have had sex with Andrew on two more occasions, at Epstein’s New York home and at an ‘orgy’ on his private island in the Caribbean.

– 2008

Epstein admits prostituting minors and is sentenced to 18 months in prison.

– 2010

Epstein is released from jail. Andrew is photographed with the disgraced Epstein in New York’s Central Park.

Footage emerges years later, reportedly shot on December 6 2010, showing him inside Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, from where he is seen looking out from a large door of the property waving a woman goodbye after Epstein leaves to get into a chauffeur-driven car.

– 2011

The duke quits his role as UK trade envoy after the fallout from the Central Park photos.

– 2015

Buckingham Palace denies Andrew has committed any impropriety after he is named in US court documents related to Epstein. A woman, later named in reports as Ms Roberts, alleges in papers filed in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, which is under the age of consent in the state.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Andrew, in his first public engagement since he was embroiled in the allegations, responds, saying: ‘Firstly I think I must, and want, for the record, to refer to the events that have taken place in the last few weeks.

‘I just wish to reiterate, and to reaffirm, the statements that have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace.’

In April the claims against Andrew are struck from US civil court records following a federal judge’s ruling.

– 2019

Newly released legal documents show that Johanna Sjoberg, another alleged Epstein victim, claimed Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.

Buckingham Palace said the allegations are ‘categorically untrue’.

Epstein is found dead in his jail cell on August 10, having killed himself after being charged with sex trafficking.

Later that month a pilot on Epstein’s private jet claims Andrew was a passenger on past flights with the financier and Ms Roberts.

The Sun newspaper reported that David Rodgers said in a testimony released in August that Epstein, Andrew and the-then 17-year-old travelled to the US Virgin Islands on April 11 2001.

Buckingham Palace describes the evidence statement as having ‘a number of inconsistencies’ and said that Andrew was on a different continent in some cases.

Following Epstein’s death, a statement from the palace says that Andrew is ‘appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes’.

Breaking his silence on the issue for the first time since 2015, Andrew then releases a statement on August 24 saying: ‘At no stage during the limited time I spent with him (Epstein) did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.’ 

On November 16, the prince gave a ‘disastrous’ BBC interview in which he spoke about his friendship with Epstein and addressed allegations of his own sexual conduct.

He faced a barrage of criticism following his television appearance, with the royal accused of a lack of empathy with Epstein’s victims. 

During the interview, Andrew, questioned by Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, twice stated his relationship with Epstein, who died in jail while facing sex trafficking charges, had some “seriously beneficial outcomes”, giving him the opportunity to meet people and prepare for a future role as a trade envoy.

The duke denied he slept with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, on three separate occasions, twice while she was underage, saying one encounter in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express in Woking for a party.

The same alleged sexual liaison, which the American said began with the royal sweating heavily as they danced at London nightclub Tramp, was factually wrong as the duke said he had a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat.

He cast doubt on the authenticity of a picture that appears to show Andrew with his arm around the waist of Mrs Giuffre, when a teenager.

This contradicts weekend reports that Sarah Ferguson and Beatrice were among the key figures pressing him to participate. 

It was claimed that the Duchess of York had been keen to end the speculation about Andrew’s involvement with a convicted paedophile and sex trafficker ahead of Beatrice’s wedding to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi next year.

However, Fergie did not attend the meeting with the Newsnight team and was abroad when details of the interview were being finalised.

Andrew, Beatrice and Thirsk met Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and the programme’s deputy editor, Stewart Maclean, at Buckingham Palace three days before filming to discuss the scope of the interview. 

A close friend of Beatrice insists she ‘wasn’t part of the decision-making process’. 

The pal adds: ‘Bea went to one meeting with the BBC. That’s all.’

Princess Beatrice, who hosted a party for her fiance’s 36th birthday at Mayfair nightclub Annabel’s last Tuesday, was said to be upset about the aftermath of the interview, which has seen Andrew forced to stand back from his charity patronages.

Thirsk, who has worked for the Prince since 2012, stepped down from her role as private secretary last week. 

She is reported to have clashed with Andrew’s former PR adviser Jason Stein, 28, who strongly advised Andrew against going ahead with Newsnight and left after just a month in his job.

Thirsk is being employed privately by the Prince and is going to be chief executive of his business mentoring undertaking, Pitch@Palace.  

This is while it was also revealed that Charles is believed to have called his mother the Queen and urged her to sack Andrew from all royal duties and roles immediately fearing his presence could fatally damage the British monarchy.

And MailOnline revealed last week that the heir to the throne is expected to meet the duke within days and ‘read him the riot act’ – and explain why he retired him off at the age of 59.

Prince Charles and Prince William are also said to be clear that they would oppose any future return to royal duties, it emerged.

It came as it was revealed that Andrew is to ‘stand back’ from his 100-plus charity patronages in a sign of his deepening humiliation over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

A showdown between the brothers over Andrew’s disastrous decision to speak publicly about his relationship with convicted paedophile Epstein is inevitable, experts have said.

A new poll found six out of ten people believed it had damaged the reputation of the Royal Family and a slim majority believed he should be banned from public events such as Trooping the Colour and Remembrance Sunday.

Plans for a glittering reception at Buckingham Palace to mark Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday in February have been mothballed following public revulsion over the Newsnight interview.

Representatives from his charities, business sponsors and military affiliations would have been invited to the party, but many have attempted to distance themselves from him since the programme was shown.

During the BBC interview, Andrew denied claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, Virginia Roberts, but admitted he had ‘let the side down’ when he visited Epstein’s home in New York – two years after the billionaire financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The decision to go ahead with the interview was initially said to have been sanctioned by the Queen, but a royal source told the Sunday Times she had not given her approval and Andrew had not told her anything about what he planned to say.

The Queen was said to be ‘deeply frustrated’ that the scandal had overshadowed the rest of the Royal Family’s work although she remained ‘privately supportive’ of her second son, according to the source.

She effectively sacked him from royal duties last week after her heir Prince Charles and second in line to the throne, Prince William, asked her to intervene.

A source told the Sunday Times William had spoken to the Queen and Charles about Andrew’s future and believed his removal from public life was ‘the right thing to do’. 

They said: ‘William is becoming more and more involved in decisions about the institution [the monarchy] and he’s not a huge fan of his uncle Andrew.’

Andrew agreed to withdraw from public duty but initially wanted to remain a figurehead for some 200 charities and other affiliations. But he was forced to back down after many made it clear they no longer wanted his backing.

At least 23 organisations have either dropped him or accepted his resignation, including the English National Ballet, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Outward Bound Trust.

Several sponsors have also dropped their backing for his Pitch@Palace business initiative and the project has been told to find offices outside of Buckingham Palace.

There were calls for the duke’s business dealings and private finances to be scrutinised by the public finance committee, Parliament’s financial watchdog.

A spokesman insisted he would continue to work on the venture, now rebranded as Pitch. She added: ‘The duke will be stepping back from public duty and temporarily standing back from his patronages. The duke will continue to work on Pitch and will look at how he takes this forward outside of his public duties, and outside of Buckingham Palace.

‘We recognise there will be a period of time while this transition takes place.’

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