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Novak Djokovic's Australian Open campaign is in tatters with the world No.1 set to be booted from the country.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced late on Friday afternoon that the nine-time Open champion's visa had been revoked for a second time, less than three days before the year's opening grand slam begins in Melbourne.

It ends the Serbian superstar's quest to secure a record-breaking 21st grand slam title at the Open, which Djokovic has dominated since winning his first title in 2008.

After a four day deliberation Hawke said he had cancelled the visa on "health and good order grounds" and that it was in the public interest to do so.

Djokovic is set to be arrested and returned to a detention facility while he awaits deportation or a legal challenge.

"Today I exercised my power under section 133C(3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so," Hawke said in a statement.

"This decision followed orders by the Federal Circuit and Family Court on 10 January 2022, quashing a prior cancellation decision on procedural fairness grounds.

"In making this decision, I carefully considered information provided to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr Djokovic."

Australian Open organisers will need to rework the draw following the late omission of the top seed, who was slated to play fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round next week.

According to the grand slam rule book Djokovic's withdrawal after the completion of the draw means his slot in the draw will go to No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev.

If he withdrew (or was withdrawn) after the first day's order of play was released, he would be replaced there by a lucky loser.

With his visa first cancelled a week ago when he was sent to a detention hotel awaiting deportation, Djokovic won a reprieve in the Federal Circuit Court last Monday.

He has continued training daily at Melbourne Park including an appearance Friday morning on Rod Laver Arena.

But it proved only a temporary move with Hawke using his discretionary power to again send Djokovic packing.

There is still no guarantee it will mark the end of the drawn-out saga.

Djokovic is reportedly determined to continue the legal fight to stay and play with his lawyers preparing to file an immediate injunction against the decision.

The timing of Hawke's announcement makes the challenge difficult with round one starting on Monday.

If Djokovic doesn't successfully appeal the decision, under law he would be banned from being granted another visa for three years, although this can be waived.

Djokovic used a recent COVID-19 infection to gain a medical exemption from vaccination but was denied entry by Australian Border Force officials and sent to a detention hotel last Thursday.

The 34-year-old did himself no favours when he subsequently admitted in a statement this week he had provided false information on his travel declaration and blamed his agent for the error.

He said he didn't attend any public events after testing positive but then revealed he had conducted a media interview in Serbia while knowingly infected, which he described as an "error of judgement".

With AP and Reuters

© AAP 2022

Prince Andrew has renounced his military affiliations and royal patronages, Buckingham Palace says.

The move comes after Andrew's lawyers failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him that accuses him of sexual abuse.

"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."

A royal source said Andrew would no longer use the title "His Royal Highness" in any official capacity and his other roles would be distributed among other members of the royal family.

They would not return to Prince Andrew.

The move represents the duke's complete removal from official royal life, and an attempt to distance the royal family from Andrew, who was once second in line to the throne as the spare to the heir, in the year of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The development is a major blow for Prince Andrew, who is facing a court showdown after a judge ruled on Wednesday that Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against him could go ahead.

"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen," Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

A royal source said the issue had been widely discussed with the royal family, making it likely that Prince Charles - as well as Andrew - was involved in crisis talks over the matter.

The decision to remove the duke's military roles and royal patronages will have been a difficult one for the Queen for a son who denies the allegations against him.

It comes after more than 150 veterans joined forces to express their outrage, writing to the Queen to demand Andrew was removed from the honorary military positions.

Accusing the duke of bringing the services he is associated with into disrepute, the 152 former members of the royal navy, RAF and army said that "were this any other senior military officer it is inconceivable that he would still be in post".

The Queen is head of the armed forces and honorary military appointments are in her gift.

The Palace said previously that the duke's military appointments were in abeyance after he stepped down from public duties in 2019.

But until now he still retained the roles, which left the eight British regiments, including the Grenadier Guards of which he was Colonel, in limbo more than two years on.

Giuffre is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.

A source close to the duke said he would "continue to defend himself" against Giuffre's allegations following the judge's decision to dismiss his legal team's attempt to have the case thrown out.

The source said: "Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling.

"However, it was not a judgment on the merits of Ms Giuffre's allegations. This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims."

with reporting from PA

© RAW 2022

The royal family has removed Prince Andrew's military links and royal patronages and he will no longer be known as His Royal Highness".

The announcement comes as the Queen's second son fights a US lawsuit in which he is accused of sex abuse.

Andrew, 61, the Duke of York, was forced to step down from public duties in 2019 because of his connections to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and after a disastrous BBC TV interview which the prince had hoped would clear his name.

Thursday's move by the royal family means he will lose all his royal connections.

"With the Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."

On Wednesday, Andrew's lawyers failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit in which Virginia Giuffre accuses him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Giuffre, 38, could pursue claims that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress while Epstein - a financier who took his own life in jail in August 2019 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial - was trafficking her.

The prince has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties.

The judge's decision means Andrew could be forced to give evidence at a trial which could begin between September and December if no settlement were reached.

A representative for Giuffre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andrew's links to Epstein had led to a swathe of damaging media reports, leading the prince to do an TV interview in November 2019 which he hoped would resolve the matter.

It instead led to ridicule and further questions, and as the controversy grew, Buckingham Palace had increasingly distanced itself from the prince, declining to comment and referring all questions to his lawyers.

The US conviction last month of his friend Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking and other charges of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse, together with his own case, had left his reputation in the British media in tatters.

A royal source said the decision over Andrew came after wide discussions among the Windsors, and that his military affiliations and patronages would be redistributed to other members of the family.

Earlier, an open letter to the Queen, signed by more than 150 veterans calling for Andrew too have his military titles taken away and "if necessary, that he be dishonourably discharged", was published by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.

They called for the Queen to take immediate action because her son had been "uncooperative and less than truthful" about his relationship with Epstein, and had brought the armed services he represented into disrepute.

"Regardless of the result of Virginia Giuffre's civil case against Prince Andrew, his position in Britain's armed forces is now untenable," the veterans' letter said.

The scandal surrounding Andrew comes on the heels of the damage caused after Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan quit royal duties to forge new careers in Los Angeles, later accusing the royal household of racism.

They too were stripped of all their patronages, the His and Her Royal Highness titles, and Harry also lost his prized military roles.

© RAW 2022