Last year, following Virginia Giuffre's sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew, the Queen stripped the Duke of York of his royal and military titles and released a statement saying that he would be defending his case 'as a private citizen'. However, it never went to trial with Prince Andrew denying the allegations and coming to an out of court settlement with Giuffre.
Since the settlement earlier this year Prince Andrew has made very few public appearances, the most notable being at his father, the late Prince Philip's, memorial service in March. He escorted the Queen to her seat - something said to have been a last minute decision which Prince Charles and Prince William thought to be 'simply unnecessary' and reportedly prompted Prince Harry's recent comments about wanting to 'protect' the monarch.
Now, one royal insider has claimed that Prince William 'cut contact' with Prince Andrew and believes that he 'should be banished'.
In his new book, William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch, royal author Robert Jobson claims that while the Queen and Prince Charles found it difficult to strip Prince Andrew of his titles, Prince William could 'take the emotion out of the situation' and was the one who engaged with the monarch about Andrew's case, 'telling her calmly and clearly that Andrew's role in the Royal Family had become untenable.'
A source told Jobson: 'The decision over the Duke of York was very difficult for the Queen and the Prince of Wales.
'They were obviously closer to Andrew than his nephew was. He could evaluate just how damaging his uncle was to the long-term future of the Monarchy.'
Another insider told the author: 'There will be no public role or comeback for York, if the Duke of Cambridge has any input on the matter – and let me assure you, he does. He should be banished, as far as Prince William is concerned.'
The Palace has not yet commented on any of the claims in the upcoming book.
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