York politicians join growing calls for Prince Andrew to be stripped of his Duke title

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Nearly two-thirds of Britons believe Prince Andrew should lose his Duke of York title after settling US sex assault lawsuit, a YouGov poll reveals.

The survey, of 2,658 adults in Great Britain today, found some 62 per cent felt he should lose the title, despite Buckingham Palace saying earlier it has no plans to strip him of it. 

The poll also revealed 82 per cent of the public thought Andrew should continue to lay low and not return to royal duties any time soon. 

A number of locals in the city of York told MailOnline their views today, with an overwhelming majority feeling he should lose the title.

Bernard Oglesbee, 74, said: ‘He should be stripped off his title definitely. He must be be guilty, or why pay all that money out?’

Wife Val, also 74, stormed: ‘He should be stripped of everything. I have never liked him. I always thought he was a waste of space.’

James Green, 65, said: ‘He absolutely should be stripped of all his titles including Duke of York. I don’t think there is any doubt he is guilty. He has put his foot in it good and proper and he only has himself to blame.’

Annie Wells, 85, who is disabled, said: ‘It is a good job he is the Queen’s son. He would be locked up if he was anyone else. The only good thing I can say about him is he did serve with honours in the Falklands. But if ever shows his face in York I will beat him with my stick.’

Josh Savage, 36, said: ‘Nothing has been totally proved yet, one way or another, and he is the Queen’s son. But I think he might lose the title anyway.’

York florist Richard Bothamley added: ‘I think he will lose the title. It has obviously done him a lot of harm. The whole thing is fiasco. I am quite a patriotic person. So I am pleased for the queen the court case has been resolved.

‘But I don’t think he should keep the title. Who would want him? It is not just this woman it was the circle of people he was mixing with. He has done some wonderful work. But you can’t tell me he did not know what was going on.’

It comes as a palace source today told MailOnline the situation regarding his remaining titles ‘remained unchanged’. 

They also include that of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy and the role of Counsellor of State Today, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said any decisions on his military honorific ‘rests obviously with the Palace’.

Earlier today, Cllr Darryl Smalley, Liberal Democrat executive member of City of York Council, joined Labour MP Rachael Maskell in demanding Andrew abandon his local links. 

Mr Wallace was asked today if the Duke of York should be allowed to represent the military. 

He told Sky News: ‘Well I don’t think he represents any of them at the moment,

‘I think the Palace took a decision that those titles were to be removed from him, so I think he is effectively acting now as a private citizen in so far as both addressing the challenges and the allegations.

‘There’s been a, obviously, a payment and I think that is where he currently remains, that the decision on titles rests obviously with the Palace in the future, but I think it’s been pretty clear that this settlement is a recognition that he wants to bring this to a close and also recognise as his statement says the suffering and the challenges that the victims have been through as a result of their allegations and their stand against the exploitation by [Jeffrey] Epstein.’

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, has called on Andrew to withdraw his Duke of York title to ‘show respect’ for its people.      

Cllr Darryl Smalley, Liberal Democrat executive member for culture, leisure & communities at City of York Council, agreed.

He told York Mix: ‘Having been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen, this should be the end of his direct link with our great city.

‘York’s unique connection to the Crown and the monarch is an important part of our city’s legacy, history and a great source of pride.’  

Meanwhile, Ms Maskell welcomed the Duke of York’s pledge to donate money to Mrs Giuffre’s charity which supports victims’ rights, but said his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had caused ‘deep hurt and embarrassment’ to York residents.

The MP’s calls comes after Prince Andrew today settled the sexual abuse lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre after he agreed an undisclosed deal said to be worth £12million with his accuser without admitting her accusations. 

The monarch is expected to foot part of the bill for her son’s settlement in a bid to draw a line under it before her much-anticipated Platinum Jubilee celebrations this summer. 

But there is anger at how the Queen, 95, has effectively been forced to bail out the ‘disgraced’ Duke of York, 61, whose modest pension from his time in the Royal Navy is now his only visible income – amid calls for the public to be told who is financing the deal.

Sources also pointed out that while there will now be a ‘period of silence’ during the Jubilee celebrations when both parties will have to stick to the terms of yesterday’s carefully-worded statement, Mrs Giuffre would then not be stopped from writing a lucrative book telling her story which could hit the shelves in time for Christmas.

Prince Charles was said to have been supported by the Queen in making it clear to Andrew that he had no choice but to settle with Mrs Giuffre, with one source telling MailOnline that Charles had ‘had enough of the situation’ and ‘would have said to Andrew that he needed to get this sorted out as soon as possible’.

A senior Royal Household member told the Standard that Charles and the Queen ‘could not countenance another disastrous appearance by the Duke of York, in light of his BBC interview’, adding: ‘Decisive action was needed. There was little choice. He had to see sense.’

While Andrew is thought to be holed up at his Royal Lodge home in Windsor today, on the other side of the world a box of beers and a bouquet of flowers were being delivered to Mrs Giuffre and her husband Robert’s home in Perth, Australia. 

And her father Sky Roberts told the Sun: ‘I knew he would settle out of court. That was a complete bluff. I think Virginia will be happy.’

Meanwhile, despite the settlement, it is feared that the scandal could still overshadow poignant Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the UK in the coming months. Also today, the Metropolitan Police said they have no plans to reopen their own probe into Andrew despite calls for officers to re-examine evidence after the deal.

Royal author Angela Levin told Sky News today: ‘I think that the Queen would have given him a big telling off and said ‘I can’t have this hanging over me for the rest of the year – I don’t want you to spoil my Platinum Jubilee. I’m the only royal who’s lasted 70 years on the throne, and you’ve got to sort it out’.’

She added: ‘I admire the Queen hugely as everybody does, and I don’t want it to spoil anything for her, but I still think this is hanging over the country and the Royal Family and is going to go right through to the end of the year and maybe into next year, and there’s no real way of cutting it off. 

‘Obviously that (a ban on Mrs Giuffre saying anything) was something that they could have put in the agreement and they haven’t, and so it implies that there’s a lot she (Mrs Giuffre) wants to say that Andrew will not want to hear.’

The settlement, which was agreed between lawyers in a sensational development yesterday, comes just weeks after Andrew vowed to contest the rape claims by Mrs Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, at a public trial.

Mrs Giuffre had alleged she was forced to have sex with the duke three times when she was 17 under the orders of the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

 Only last month, she was given the go-ahead to sue Andrew for unspecified damages in a New York civil court. But despite vowing to fight the claims and repeatedly protesting his innocence, the prince yesterday agreed to pay a huge sum to settle the case before it ever reaches a jury.