The bells of Westminster Abbey in London will ring again on Prince Andreu's birthday, February 19, 2021. This is despite Prince Andreu's announcement in November that he was "stepping down" from his royal duties following a public outcry over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While denying Epstein's accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre's claim that she was forced to have sex with him, she said she did not regret her friendship with Epstein.

As People reports (opens in new tab), the Westminster Abbey bells were rung by the Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Prince Edward, Prince Charles' wife Camilla Parker Bowles, Kate Middleton and Prince William, and Kate and William's children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, to be rung on 11 royal birthdays (Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did not receive the honor of ringing the bell, even before they retired as senior royals).

Government buildings also display the Union Jack on senior royals' birthdays, but Prince Andrew did not receive this honor last February. The Ministry of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced in a statement that "following Lord York's decision to step down from public duties for the time being, there is no longer a need to fly the Union Flag at UK government buildings on Wednesday, February 19."

Prince Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came under renewed scrutiny in September 2019 when Virginia Roberts Giuffre said she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17. Andrew "emphatically denied" the allegation, and in a BBC interview in November, he claimed that he had "no recollection" of meeting Giuffre and said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein because it provided him with a "beneficial" opportunity, leading to a backlash.

After the interview, Andrew announced that he was "stepping down from public work for the time being" because his "former relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major obstacle to [his] family business."