It appears that Prince Andrew's associations have cost him his role as Britain's trade envoy. Multiple outlets are reporting that Buckingham Palace will release a statement confirming that, as BBC News wrote, he'll "give up his title as Britain's 'special representative' for Trade and Investment later." A source tells The Wall Street Journal that he'll still "continue to promote the U.K. abroad as a senior member of the royal family," just not in that specific role.

The prince's tabloid issues are numerous. He's been plagued by his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been photographed by The Daily Mail with one of Epstein's under-aged "masseuses," and has been affiliated with Libya dictator Muammar Qaddafi's son and the son-in-law of ousted Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. This month, Vanity Fair published a lengthy profile of Andrew's PR troubles that concluded: "as Queen Elizabeth's power wanes and Charles's power grows, Andrew is likely to find himself out of a job and out of luck."

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Erik Hayden