King Charles has delivered a royal blow as Prince Andrew lost his titles, home and final shield of privilege in the wake of the Epstein scandal.
London: The walls of Windsor are closing in on Prince Andrew. In a move that ends months of speculation and signals the end of his royal privileges, King Charles has formally stripped his younger brother of his “Prince” title and ordered him to vacate his lavish Windsor residence. The decision follows renewed public outrage over Andrew’s long-contested connection to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender whose shadow still haunts the royal family.
Buckingham Palace released a rare late-night statement confirming that “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”. “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation,” the statement further added.
According to CNN, Andrew will be relocated to a smaller residence on King Charles’s privately owned Sandringham estate, not one managed by the Crown Estate. The shift will be funded privately by the King and implemented “as soon as practicable”.
The move comes in the wake of explosive revelations from the posthumous memoir ‘Nobody’s Girl’, written by Virginia Giuffre, the woman who had accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41, but her words have reignited scrutiny around the 65-year-old Duke of York. Andrew continues to deny all allegations.
Buckingham Palace said the decision was taken despite Andrew’s denials, citing what it described as “serious lapses of judgment” on his part. Palace insiders told CNN that King Charles plans to revoke Andrew’s peerages tied to York, Inverness and Killyleagh through royal warrants, without seeking parliamentary intervention.
While Andrew loses his titles and home, his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will retain their royal status, in line with the 1917 decree of King George V, which extends royal titles to the children of the sons of a reigning monarch.
In an unusual show of coordination, the Buckingham Palace confirmed that the British government had been consulted on the King’s decision and expressed its full backing. The statement concluded with a solemn line, “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
The developments mark a dramatic fall from grace for a man once considered one of the most visible members of the royal family. Reports earlier this month suggested that Andrew had privately offered to relinquish his titles to stem growing anger, but the gesture did little to calm public outrage.
Questions continue to swirl over the source of funds he used to settle a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with Giuffre in 2022 and how he sustained his lavish lifestyle despite stepping down from public duties in 2019.
Public discontent has only intensified. Many Britons were infuriated by revelations that Andrew had purchased his sprawling Royal Lodge mansion in 2003 for just USD 1 million and continued to live there on a token “peppercorn rent”.
The public’s unease reached King Charles himself this week when a protester shouted, “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?” as the monarch visited a cathedral in northwest England.
Meanwhile, Giuffre’s family issued a statement on Thursday, declaring, “Our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability. Today, she declares victory.”
They added, “We will not rest until the same accountability applies to all abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
For the royal family, this may be an attempt to draw a line under one of its darkest scandals. For Andrew, however, it marks the final unravelling of a royal life now stripped bare – title by title and brick by brick.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
