Prince Andrew quits social media

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II´s second son Prince Andrew has deactivated his social media accounts, users said on Wednesday, as he faces a US civil case for sexual assault.

Andrew´s official Twitter account @TheDukeOfYork now opens with a message saying "This account doesn´t exist". His YouTube account also comes up with an error message and a picture of a monkey.

The prince´s Instagram and Facebook pages appeared still to be open, though the Instagram was set to private. The Daily Mail cited a source close to the 61-year-old prince as saying these accounts have also been removed and are no longer live.

This comes after announcements last week that the prince has ceased using his HRH, or His Royal Highness, title, and has also given up honorary military titles bestowed by the Queen. The move effectively removes him from official royal life.

His accuser Virginia Giuffre has said that she had sex with the prince while aged 17 after meeting him through the late US financer and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The prince denies the allegations but lost a bid to dismiss the civil suit. Andrew withdrew from public life as a royal in 2019 after a widely ridiculed BBC interview where he sought to vindicate himself of the accusation that he sexually assaulted a minor.