King strips Andrew of prince title and home
King Charles has stripped his brother Andrew of the title of prince and evicted him from his home as punishment for his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Source: X/Sky News UK
The King has stripped his younger brother Andrew of his title of prince and forced him out of his home by Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Andrew, 65, the younger second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has come under mounting pressure for his behaviour and ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this month he was forced to stop using his title of Duke of York.
In an announcement that came late on Thursday (British time), the King has escalated his actions, stripping Andrew of all of his titles. The former prince will now be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
The Buckingham Palace statement said Andrew had also been served formal notice to give up the lease on his Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor Estate, west of London. He will move to alternative private accommodation in eastern England – believed to be a home on the King’s Sandringham estate.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said.
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“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 from Buckingham Palace came on Thursday night (British time).
Andrew was once regarded as a dashing naval officer and served in the military during the Falklands War with Argentina in the early 1980s.
But he was forced to step down as a roving UK trade ambassador in 2011, before quitting all royal duties in 2019 and then stripped of his military links and royal patronages in 2022 amid allegations of sexual misconduct that he has always denied.
Also in 2022, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who took her own life in April. She accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.
Andrew has always denied her account, which has recently returned to prominence with the release of her memoir.
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Details of the settlement have never been made public, but Andrew is believed to have paid Giuffre – who moved to Australia and took her own life earlier this year – £12 million ($A24. 4 million) .
In her posthumous memoir, released last week, she said “entitled” Andrew believed it was his birthright to have sex with her. He has repeatedly denied her allegations.
Earlier in October, correspondence between Andrew and Epstein from 2011, published by The Mail on Sunday and The Sun, revealed Andrew had told Epstein they should “keep in close touch” and that they would “play some more soon”.
A palace source said while Andrew continued to deny the accusations against him, it was clear that there had been serious lapses of judgment.
The source said the King had made the ultimate decision, but had the support of the wider family, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William.
The decision to force Andrew to move away from Windsor was also significant after newspapers reported he paid no rent on his 30-room mansion for two decades, after initially paying for renovations.
In a rare political intervention into the workings of the royal family, a British parliamentary committee had on Wednesday questioned whether Andrew should still be living in the house.
Polls show the royal family has been losing the support of younger generations for years.
The King, with the support of 43-year-old William, has acted to protect the institution, which experts say must be the priority of any monarch.
The move against Andrew is the biggest since 1936, when Edward VIII was forced to abdicate just over a year after ascending the throne so he could marry a divorced American socialite.
He was given the title of Duke of Windsor but also largely banished from Britain.
