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Prince Andrew, the much-disgraced Duke of York, stepped away from public life late last month in the aftermath of a disastrous interview on the BBC. In the weeks since, organizations around the world, including the prince’s old Canadian private school, have raced to cut ties with the bungling royal. His own mother reportedly cancelled his 60th birthday party.
But the Queen’s middle son hasn’t yet lost all his official appointments. Despite his close ties to a notorious sex criminal and his own ham-fisted PR efforts, Prince Andrew remains the titular head of three Canadian military regiments, the Department of National Defence (DND) confirms.
“As is the custom, the Duke of York holds the honorary title of Colonel-in-Chief of The Princess Louise Fusiliers, The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada and the Queen’s York Rangers,” Jessica Lamirande, a DND spokeswoman, wrote in an email.
It took a full week of questions from the National Post for the DND to confirm even that much about the scandal-plagued prince. The department refused to answer any follow up questions on the record. Todd Lane, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s press secretary, meanwhile, said the minister wouldn’t comment at all beyond the department’s statement.