Duke of York’s Twitter account deleted as monarchy swiftly updates own website

Prince Andrew has deleted his Twitter account, just days after the Queen stripped him of his honorary military roles and he stopped using his HRH style.

Andrew’s official @TheDukeofYork handle now comes up with a blank page and the message “This account doesn’t exist”.

The bio used to read “The Official Twitter Account for The Duke of York. Tweets sent by HRH are signed – AY.”

The British monarchy’s official website has also been swiftly updated as the institution seeks to distance itself from the Queen’s son, who is facing a civil sexual assault trial in the US.

Andrew still appears under the section “Members of the Royal Family”, but the list of his now ex-military posts and patronages has been removed.

Last week’s major development has been added, reading: “In January 2022, Buckingham Palace made a statement announcing that, with The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen, and The Duke will continue to not carry out public duties.”

Under the heading “Supporting the Queen”, Andrew’s official duties are listed in the past tense, such as attending Trooping the Colour and his Diamond Jubilee tour to India on behalf of the monarch.

The website states: “An important part of The Duke of York’s role was to support The Queen’s work as Head of State.”

The duke’s YouTube page is also no longer accessible, but his Instagram account @hrhthedukeofyork remained in place as of lunchtime on Wednesday, but was set to private.

Virginia Giuffre is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

She claims she was trafficked by the duke’s friend, convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 and a minor under US law.

The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.