Prince Andrew has once again avoided criminal charges of sexual misconduct in the UK, but the Duke of York still faces a civil suit in the US. Photo / Getty Images
Right now is not a good time for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. He is being sued in US civil court for sexual misconduct and the mistakes of his past seem to keep leaking to the surface.
The one tiny silver lining the disgraced Duke can cling to is the recent announcement that the UK police are no longer investigating him.
According to the Daily Mail, The Metropolitan Police have once again dropped their investigation into allegations of sex crimes against Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein.
The Met had previously examined the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre, but did not open a full investigation, stating that the case was a matter for the US authorities.
After Giuffre filed her civil suit against Prince Andrew in New York however, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, reportedly assigned an officer to review the claim once again, stating that: "No one is above the law."
While he has once again avoided criminal charges, the Duke of York still needs to fight Giuffre's civil suit in the US. For the Duke, the scandal just keeps coming and his family have had enough. In fact, it seems that the scandal-smeared Duke's fate was sealed almost a year ago by his siblings.
Sources close to the royal family claim that Andrew's siblings, Charles, Anne and Edward, held crisis talks about what to do with their brother and the controversy surrounding him. The verdict among the senior royals seems to have been unanimous. Andrew should never return to public life.
A source said: "Nine months ago Charles, Anne and Edward had a meeting, a summit, and agreed there was no way back for him."
Another source told The Sunday Times: "There is no way in the world he's ever coming back, the family will never let it happen."
Meanwhile, sources close to Prince William revealed to The Sunday Times that he is "He is no fan of Uncle Andrew."
It seems the young royal, and second in line to the throne, sees Prince Andrew as a threat to the royal family. A close friend of William's claims that he feels his uncle has an "ungracious and ungrateful" attitude to his royal position.
Andrew still faces Guiffre's lawsuit in the US. Next month the proceedings will begin, with Virginia Roberts Giufrre claiming that she was forced to sleep with the Duke when she was only 17. He vehemently denies the allegations.