Andrew quits social media; guards role taken by Queen

His Twitter account @TheDukeof York was deleted and his Instagram account @hrhthedukeofyork has been made private.

Prince Andrew in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards in 2019. Picture: AFP

The Duke of York has begun removing his profiles from social media in response to the announcement last week that he would no longer style himself “His Royal Highness”.

His Twitter account @The­Dukeof York was deleted on Wednesday and his Instagram account @hrhthedukeofyork has been made private.

Prince Andrew lost all his military affiliations and royal ­patronages last Thursday when Buckingham Palace announced he would also not “undertake any public duties” and that he was ­defending himself from allegations of sexual assault as a private citizen.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre is bringing a civil case against the duke in New York, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2001, when she was 17.

He denies the allegations.

The duke’s Facebook account continues to be live but has not been updated since January 2020.

A screenshot of the Duke of York’s Twitter account. Picture: Twitter

A royal source told MailOnline that all his social media channels were being removed but some were taking longer to process than others.

“The changes have been made to reflect the recent statement from Buckingham Palace regarding the Duke of York,” the source said.

Buckingham Palace did not comment.

Separately, the Grenadier Guards responded to the removal of the Duke of York as their colonel with “three cheers” that the Queen would be taking his place.

Lieutenant General Roly Walker, the regimental lieutenant colonel, wrote an email to all troops encouraging them to celebrate the honorary position being returned to the monarch. “I am sure you will offer a personal ‘three cheers’ for the colonel, an appointment she first held in 1942, 80 years to the day on February 24 this year,” he wrote.

Andrew had been colonel of the regiment since 2017 when he took over the role from the Duke of Edinburgh, who had held the appointment since 1975.

The prince’s loss of military ­affiliations followed reports that officers felt uncomfortable having to drink to his health at the end of regimental dinners.

General Walker told troops in his email that the position of colonel would be given to another member of the royal family “in due course”. He said he would write to the prince “to thank him for his time as colonel”.

The Times