By Hannah Furness
London: In the end, it was a very modern downfall: an email led to a phone call, and the Duke of York was, on the face of it, no more.
After fraught negotiations through last week, and after decades of scandal suddenly came to a head, Prince Andrew agreed to stop using his title.
The King, supported by his elder son and siblings, moved to persuade his brother to “do the right thing”.
Prince Andrew leaves Westminster Abbey following the coronation ceremony of King Charles in 2023.Credit: AP
Andrew was allowed to issue a statement saying he was acting out of duty, for family and country, in what the palace hopes will be enough to stave off growing public opprobrium over the mounting scandals to his name.
Some have already said it does not go far enough. It does not officially remove his Duke of York title, nor change his position in any constitutional sense.
The family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had alleged she was trafficked by sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17, would like him to lose his prince title, too. Even friends of Andrew fear it is another half-gesture that prevents him clearing his name. Andrew has denied the allegations and a civil claim brought in the United States was settled out of court with no admission of guilt.
Why now, critics wonder, after all these things?
The announcement came amid an unholy trinity of problems: first a “tipping point” email that showed the then Duke of York misled the public; the imminent prospect of Giuffre’s memoir; and the timing of a trip to the Vatican the King desperately hopes will not be overshadowed.
The persistent headlines screaming “PRINCE ANDREW”, overshadowing the work of the royal family, proved the straw that broke the camel’s back.
It was clear a week ago that the “Prince Andrew issue” was rapidly coming to a head.
A selection of British national newspapers showing their reaction to Prince Andrew announcing he will relinquish his Duke of York title and the Order of the Garter.Credit: AP
Last Sunday, news broke of an email sent by Prince Andrew to his friend Jeffrey Epstein, a year after he told the public he had cut all contact with him.
The message – “we’re in this together” – poured doubt over Andrew’s entire story of ending his friendship with the convicted sex trafficker, and set alarm bells ringing.
But on Monday, Buckingham Palace was still said to be “at a loss” over what to do about the King’s younger brother, already disgraced and without his HRH title. It was said there was little that could be done without the intervention of parliament.
Aides were loath to do so, fearing it would take up to a year to push legislation through and mindful that the public may not regard it as a good use of MPs’ time. Instead, they let it be known, they were “exploring all options”.
If it was intended as a hint to Andrew to take the decision for himself, it did not immediately work.
On Wednesday, the King held his usual audience with the prime minister.
By Thursday, a new story about how Andrew had met a Chinese spymaster surfaced.
Mid-Friday afternoon, there were rumours that the King was “considering” removing the Duke title or his cherished membership of the Order of the Garter.
If it was intended as a final bargaining chip to get Andrew’s statement demoting himself over the line, it worked.
Hours later, Buckingham Palace issued news, sent as a “statement by Prince Andrew”, that he would “now go a step further” to stop using his title and honours.
“In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family,” he conceded.
Some have already said the move does not go far enough. It does not officially remove Andrew’s Duke of York title, nor change his position in any constitutional sense.Credit: AP
The King is understood to have taken the lead in persuading his brother.
Andrew’s 2011 email to Epstein, sources say, was the “tipping point”, exposing not just the “fundamental fault line” in the prince’s story but also every other element of his defence.
“It was very much the King’s decision that the point had been reached,” one source said.
The 2019 BBC Newsnight interview debacle is said to have brought the King into “summits” with Princess Anne and Prince Edward over the Andrew question. This time it happened from afar.
The King had been in London and Scotland, communicating via aides and the telephone, and did not meet Andrew face-to-face.
The King and the Prince of Wales have not met in person either, despite William being often said to seek a tougher line with his uncle.
Having announced he will no longer use the Duke of York title, Andrew’s life remains otherwise little changed. He still lives at Royal Lodge, and there is little appetite to push legislation through to formally remove his dukedom if it can be avoided.
“It would take a long time to achieve,” one source explains. “This is an identical outcome.”
‘[This is a] palace comms triumph that has persuaded everyone that Prince Andrew has given up titles he hasn’t.’
The palace believes Andrew will stick to it. He has not used his HRH title in the six years since promised not to do so, sources say.
One constitutional expert last night described it as a “palace comms triumph that has persuaded everyone that Prince Andrew has given up titles he hasn’t”.
The royal family’s website will be updated to remove him from its list of working members, the palace has confirmed.
There will be more pressure to come. The co-author of Giuffre’s memoir is already booked on Newsnight on Monday, and the Chinese spy scandal shows no sign of abating, bringing with it serious questions about national security that spill far outside castle walls.
The test, as far as the palace is concerned, will come midweek.
As the King and Queen arrive at the Vatican, a source said, “it is imperative it goes well”. The King and Pope will pray together for the first time since the Reformation, in what is described as a “once in a 500-year event”.
It is a personal mission for a King who wants to build bridges between the Catholic and Anglican churches, and – given it is a state visit – part of his role supporting the British government.
If the world’s eyes are on him, rather than on Prince Andrew’s latest news, the palace will chalk it up as a win.
The Telegraph, London
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