King Charles III has stripped his brother Prince Andrew of all remaining royal titles and ordered him out of his Windsor residence, marking the most severe royal censure in more than a century.
Buckingham Palace confirmed Thursday that the king had “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.” The move comes amid renewed outrage over Andrew’s association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and fresh allegations from Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Following the decision, Andrew will no longer be known as “Prince Andrew” or “His Royal Highness.” He will instead go by Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and relocate from Royal Lodge to private accommodation, reportedly on the king’s Sandringham estate.
The palace described the action as “necessary” given the “serious lapses of judgement,” despite Andrew’s continued denial of the allegations.
“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 statement read.
It is almost unheard of for a British royal to lose the title of prince. The last case was in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus was stripped of his British titles for siding with Germany during World War I.
Pressure on the palace had mounted since Andrew relinquished his “duke of York” title earlier this month, following the release of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl. In the book, Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew at 17, claiming he acted as if “having sex with me was his birthright.”
Andrew, 65, has long denied the allegations but stepped back from public duties after his disastrous 2019 BBC interview. He later settled Giuffre’s civil lawsuit in 2022 for millions of dollars, without admitting wrongdoing but acknowledging her suffering as a trafficking victim.
The disgraced royal will also lose all remaining honours, including the Order of the Garter and the Royal Victorian Order.
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