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The last time Andrew, the father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, appeared in a public capacity with the royal family was last April, when the family gathered in London for Prince Philip's funeral.

In November 2019, Andrew stepped back from public duties, saying in a statement at the time that his, \"former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support.\"

The scrutiny over Andrew's relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender, increased even more in 2020, when Epstein died in prison from an apparent suicide.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in New York rejected Prince Andrew's claim that a 2009 settlement agreement between Giuffre and Epstein exempted him from civil litigation.

The settlement agreement releases from legal liability \"other potential defendants\" and attorneys for the Duke of York had argued that prevents her from suing him because he was a potential defendant in her earlier lawsuit.

The judge called the agreement \"ambiguous\" and lacked \"clear and precise\" drafting.

\"PHOTO:
Ian Forsyth/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends an agricultural event on July 11, 2019, in Harrogate, England.
>

ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy said the ruling is likely what led the monarchy to establish more distance from Andrew.

\"They are now going even further than they have gone previously in distancing themselves from him,\" she said. \"It sends the message they understand the latest ruling has escalated the reputational damage and they want to put every last bit of distance they can between him and the monarchy.\"

Giuffre alleges Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew, who took advantage and sexually abused her when she was under 18.

Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegation.

In response to the judge's ruling, a source close to Andrew told ABC News the duke \"will continue to defend himself.\"

\"Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling. However, it was not a judgement on the merits of Ms Giuffre’s allegations,\" the source said. \"This is a marathon not a sprint and the Duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling Wednesday, telling ABC News, \"We would not comment on what is an ongoing legal matter.\"

Andrew's U.S.-based legal team had previously signaled its intent to seek dismissal on jurisdictional grounds, arguing Giuffre cannot take advantage of the U.S. federal court system while she lives in Australia.

ABC News' Zoe Magee, Aaron Katersky and James Hill contributed to this report.

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