A new incident has caught the attention of social media users, regarding Prince Andrew of the UK royal family (Queen Elizabeth II’s son), always in the public eye whether he likes it or not.
During Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral procession in Scotland, one man shouted profanities at Prince Andrew, and then two other men assaulted the shouting man and threw him to the ground. All three men were arrested.
Authorities launched an investigation into the incident that occurred on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, while Andrew was walking behind the coffin.
The incident, which was recorded on video, happened on the afternoon of September 12. The video was widely circulated on social media and shows the 22-year-old protester shouting at Prince Andrew, calling him “a sick old man,” because of sexual assault accusations that have been made against him. The two other men are seen pushing the 22-year-old to the ground after his outburst. The young man that was mocking the prince was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace.
Prince Andrew, unlike his siblings, was not allowed to wear military attire because he isn’t a working member of the royal family. Instead of military uniform, he wore a suit. Prince Andrew, who still holds the title of Duke of York, stepped down from his royal duties in 2019 because of allegations of sexual assault against him.
In 2014, Virginia Giuffre accused Prince Andrew and several other men of sexually assaulting her. She claimed that Prince Andrew had relations with her three times when she was a minor.
Although Andrew has denied the allegations against him, he decided to settle out of court with Giuffre before the sexual abuse case went to trial. The case was settled for $13.55 million, and money was donated by Giuffre to charity organizations that help sexual assault victims.
Many people, including several former royal staff members, corroborated Giuffre’s allegations against Prince Andrew and stories connecting him to sex traffickers. In January 2022, the late Queen Elizabeth stripped her 61-year-old son of all his royal patronages and military affiliations. The patronages were returned to the queen to be distributed to other royal family members.
Prince Andrew was demoted to the bottom of the palace website on the royal hierarchy list. He will have to defend himself against all future cases as a private citizen, as the monarchy seeks to distance itself from his alleged actions.
