King Charles III has formally stripped his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of his “prince” title and ordered him to leave his Windsor home.
The decision comes as there is increasing interest in Andrew’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Buckingham Palace stated in a statement on Thursday that the King “has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles, and honours of Prince Andrew”.
According to the statement, the 65-year-old monarch “will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor”.
The palace also announced that “formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease” on Royal Lodge, Andrew’s Windsor mansion where he has lived for more than 20 years.
He is expected to relocate to the royal estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, with any future accommodation privately funded by the King.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement added.
“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 takes an act of parliament to officially remove Andrew’s Duke of York title, however he voluntarily handed it up earlier this month as pressure rose over his continued affiliation with Epstein.
Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, who has held the title Duchess of York since their 1996 divorce, will likewise leave Royal Lodge and return to her maiden name.
The 66-year-old novelist and media personality is the mother of Andrew’s two children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
The latest royal move comes after the emergence of Nobody’s Girl, a postmortem memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that as a teenager, she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times. The prince has continually refuted the allegations.
The development comes as emails surfaced this month revealing Andrew’s continued contact with Epstein months after publicly claiming to have terminated relations with the financier in 2010.
Andrew’s ties to Epstein have dogged his public life since his disastrous BBC Newsnight appearance in 2019, which prompted him to stand down from royal obligations.
In 2022, he made an out-of-court deal with Giuffre in a civil action without admitting fault, causing Queen Elizabeth to revoke his honorary military titles and patronages.
