Prince Andrew to join Queen at memorial service for Prince Philip amid sex abuse case

Prince Andrew was recently stripped of his His Royal Highness title and remaining royal duties due to the sex abuse case against him, and would not be allowed to represent his mother Queen Elizabeth II at royal engagements. Though Buckingham Palace has made it clear the Duke of York is no longer a senior royal and would be fighting the case in the United States as a “private citizen,” he continues to be a member of the British royal family and will appear alongside his mother at an upcoming poignant occasion.

According to a report in Mail Online, the 61-year-old is expected to accompany the Queen at a memorial for his late father Prince Philip, due to be held at a Westminster Abbey ceremony on March 29. The remembrance service will pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, the nation’s longest-serving consort, who died at the age of 99 on April 9, just two months before he would have turned 100.

At the time of Prince Philip’s death, it was being claimed that Andrew was using his father’s death as an opportunity to return to his royal life. The Duke, who was forced to quit his royal duties in 2019 due to public uproar over his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, had given several impromptu statements to the press about his father’s death. Meanwhile, senior royal courtiers, as well as his elder brother Prince Charles were adamant that there is no way back for him to his royal life.

However, Andrew was allowed to join his family in public for the first time since his scandal as it was his father’s funeral. This time, he will also be able to join the Queen as her son at the service next month, just weeks after he testifies for the first time under oath in the sex abuse case against him.

The royal has been accused by Virginia Giuffre of having sex with her on three occasions after she was trafficked to him by Jeffrey Epstein at the age of 17. Andrew continues to deny the claims and has demanded a “trial by jury.”