Prince Andrew forces Queen to defend Crown 'at all costs'

The decision was reportedly made by the Queen after talks with her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, and grandson Prince William

Long described as her favourite son, Prince Andrew gave his mother Queen Elizabeth II little choice but to inflict the humiliation of stripping him of his honorary military titles as his US civil trial for sexual assault looms.

"The time had come to push him further back out of the limelight," he told AFP. The situation became untenable after a New York judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a civil suit accusing the prince of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre when she was 17.