Social media pages belonging to Britain's Prince Andrew deleted amid scandal

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Social media accounts belonging to Britain's Prince Andrew began to be purged on Wednesday -- amid a sexual assault scandal and his new status as a private citizen no longer officially recognized as a member of the royal family.

Last week, Queen Elizabeth II stripped Prince Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronages in response to the sexual assault accusations against him in the United States.

Accuser Virginia Guiffre filed a lawsuit against him last August, saying that he assaulted her on multiple occasions in the United States and Britain when she was 17.

Last week, a federal judge in New York ruled that her suit could proceed. Shortly afterward, the royal family began distancing itself from Prince Andrew.

A screenshot taken Wednesday shows that Prince Andrew's official Twitter page is no longer active. Image courtesy Twitter

Wednesday, his official Twitter page led to a message saying the account does not exist. His Instagram account was set to private and his YouTube page also leads to an error message saying the page is not available.

The prince's Facebook page was still active by mid-Wednesday, but The Guardian reported that it also will be taken down.

Prince Andrew's biography remains on the official royal family website, but uses the past tense to describe his royal duties. He can no longer use the title "His Royal Highness" or carry out any royal duties while defending the case as a private citizen. His honorary military titles have also been returned to the queen.

In her suit, Guiffre says disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges, arranged for Prince Andrew to have sex with her when she was a minor.

Prince Andrew has denied all of Guiffre's accusations.