Prince Andrew quietly deletes Twitter after being stripped of royal titles

Prince Andrew has quietly deleted his Twitter account a week after he was unceremoniously stripped of his military titles and royal patronages.

Social media users visiting the Duke of York’s official Twitter page today were greeted with a message saying ‘this account doesn’t exist – try searching for another’, just hours after it was still live yesterday.

At the time of writing his Instagram is private and his Facebook page is still live.

However, a source close to Andrew told MailOnline today that all of his social media channels had now been removed and were no longer live, but some of them were taking longer to filter through.

The source said: ‘The changes have been made to reflect the recent statement from Buckingham Palace regarding The Duke of York.’

Last Thursday, Andrew was stripped of his remaining patronages and honorary military roles after he lost his bid to have the sex lawsuit against him thrown out.

The move is said to have left him ‘shellshocked’ and ‘in tears’ with sources claiming the gravity of his ‘dire situation’ has finally dawned on him.

Andrew is accused of sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager and while she was the victim of a trafficking ring orchestrated by billionaire peadophile Jeffry Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. 

The Duke has always strenuously denied the accusations

The removal of his social media accounts come as he faces fresh criticism following an ITV documentary that explored his relationship with Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker, and Epstein.

The show interviewed Andrew’s ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey, who claimed Epstein and former US president Bill Clinton ‘were like brothers’ and ‘loved’ being around him.

The 45-year-old former ‘It Girl’ also said Maxwell used her as ‘bait’ to entertain Epstein’s friends, adding that the disgraced financier had Maxwell ‘sort of go fishing’ for girls for him. 

The documentary also aired allegations by former royal protection officer Paul Page, who claimed that Andrew’s love of his soft toy collection meant he would throw a tantrum if the teddy bears were moved.

Mr Page said a laminated picture of his toys was kept in a drawer to help household staff properly place them on his bed – and he would ‘shout and scream and become verbally abusive’ if they were not put back in the right place.

Two of those speaking on the programme suggested Andrew and Maxwell were so comfortable around each other they gave the impression they had been in a relationship.

Euan Rellie, who socialised with Maxwell, told the documentary: ‘I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been boyfriend and girlfriend in the past. They had an easy warmth around each other.’

And Mr Page added: ‘From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace, go in and out, we thought she was having an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew.’

Andrew will now fight his civil lawsuit as a private citizen after effectively being kicked out of the Royal Family.

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey weighed in on the scandal earlier today.

He told LBC Radio: ‘He is out of public view. 

‘My personal reflection is his associations are horrifically ill-advised, and he caused enormous challenge for the royal family in a year when we should be celebrating the extraordinary service of Her Majesty the Queen as she reaches her platinum Jubilee.

‘I’m also a minister of the crown and it would be inappropriate for me to give any further comment which might risk being too colourful.’

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