Prince Andrew clings to military title after shock legal settlement

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, will be allowed to cling to one of his military titles, the role of Vice Admiral, reports the Mirror. Photo / Getty Images

Prince Andrew has apparently been a little bit down since settling out of court with Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexual assault.

Seen as tantamount to an admission of guilt, the settlement has seen the 62-year-old stripped of all of his titles and essentially booted out of the royal family, in an official capacity at least.

To ease the Duke of York's suffering, however, the Mirror reports that he will be allowed to cling to one of his military titles, the role of Vice Admiral.

"He is down, he is broken. If he wants to dress up once in a while in a naval uniform, then let him," a source told the Mirror. "His reputation is in tatters, his public life is over. He is a walking embarrassment."

"He served in the Royal Navy in the Falklands War and this was bestowed upon him by the Queen," the source told the Mirror of the Vice Admiral rank. "It's effectively the same as an honorary degree."

Reports on the settlement figure the Duke was forced to pay to Ms Giuffre (pictured) put the figure somewhere in the NZ$24 million ballpark. Photo / Getty Images

Last week, despite continuing to assert his innocence, Prince Andrew agreed to settle out of court with Giuffre, hoping to make the allegations that had plagued him for so long finally go away.

Reports on the sum the duke paid to Giuffre put the figure somewhere in the NZ$24 million ballpark.

Being allowed to retain his military title could further feed Andrew's belief that he could still, in time, return to official royal duties.

Just days ago, True Royalty TV producer Kerene Barefield claimed royal experts appearing on the talk show told its hosts that Andrew still thinks he "has a future".

"The royal experts shared, by speaking to friends of the Duke of York, that he still believes he has a future as a royal," Barefield told Fox News Digital.

"The language that he used in his statement, like the fact he will be helping sex trafficking victims, could be seen as him trying to reposition himself and reinvent himself in the eyes of the public. It's my understanding that [his daughter] Princess Eugenie also has a charity that helps sex trafficking victims. And it might be that he's trying to get on board with that."

With the royal family vehemently trying to repair the damage caused by the lawsuit against Andrew, it seems unlikely that he will be given much in the way of official royal air time, but it won't be that easy for the family to sweep Andrew under the proverbial rug.

A recent allegation was made against him by a massage therapist who called him a "sex pest" and perhaps there is more where that came from. In addition, Andrew's problems are far from over as Giuffre must be under significant pressure to write a book about her ordeal, which would push the whole scandal back into the spotlight.