King Charles III has stripped his embattled brother, Prince Andrew, of all remaining royal titles and ordered him to vacate his lavish Royal Lodge residence near Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, the decision follows weeks of mounting pressure over Andrew’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and renewed allegations from one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, was released earlier this month.
After the king’s rare move, Andrew will now be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, losing his “prince” title along with his former designations as Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “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.”
It is nearly unprecedented for a royal to be stripped of the title “prince.” The last instance occurred in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus lost his British title for siding with Germany during World War I.
Giuffre’s brother, Skye Roberts, celebrated the decision, saying, “Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.”
Andrew, 65, long denied Giuffre’s claims that he had sex with her when she was 17 but paid millions to settle her civil lawsuit in 2022.
The move marks one of the most dramatic royal punishments since King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936. Andrew is expected to relocate to a smaller property on King Charles’ Sandringham estate, with limited financial support from the monarch.
