In a decisive move that shakes the British royal family, King Charles III has formally stripped his brother Prince Andrew of his royal titles and will evict him from his Windsor home. The action is the most severe punishment yet for Andrew’s association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
Buckingham Palace announced the historic decision on Thursday. The palace said the King started a formal process to remove his brother's "Style, Titles and Honours" . Andrew will now be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor . He will also be forced to surrender the lease on his large home, the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, and move to private housing .
The palace described these steps as "necessary censures." It said they were needed even though Andrew continues to deny the allegations of sexual assault made against him . The palace statement also made a point of expressing sympathy for abuse victims. It said the King and Queen's thoughts and utmost sympathies are with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse .
This action by King Charles represents the deepest split in the royal family in decades . It shows the monarchy is trying to protect itself from the ongoing scandal surrounding Andrew’s friendship with Epstein . Pressure on the King to act had been growing for weeks. It intensified after new emails showed Andrew was in contact with Epstein longer than he had previously admitted .
The controversy reached a new level with the release of a posthumous memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers . In the book, she detailed allegations that Andrew had sex with her on three occasions when she was a teenager . She wrote that Andrew acted as if he believed "having sex with me was his birthright" . Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41 .
Andrew has consistently denied ever meeting Giuffre . In 2022, he settled a civil lawsuit she filed against him for a reported multi-million-dollar sum. He did not admit wrongdoing but acknowledged Giuffre had suffered as a victim of sex trafficking .
The palace's decision means Andrew loses the title of "Prince" he has held since birth as the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II . He is also stripped of his other titles, including Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh . His honors, such as being a Knight of the Order of the Garter, are also removed . While Andrew had stopped using his "His Royal Highness" style in 2022, it has now been formally taken away .
Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will keep their own princess titles. The rules set by King George V in 1917 allow the children of a sovereign's son to keep their titles . Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who has lived with him at Royal Lodge, will also have to move out and make her own living arrangements .
Andrew is expected to move to a property on the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk . This new accommodation will be privately funded by King Charles . The move from Royal Lodge will happen as soon as it is practical .
The Royal Lodge itself became a source of public anger. Recent reports revealed that Andrew had a highly favorable lease agreement. He paid a one-time fee of 1 million pounds in 2003 and then an annual rent of just "one peppercorn," if it was ever demanded . He also funded extensive renovations to the crown property . This arrangement drew criticism from lawmakers and the public, especially since Andrew has not been a working royal since 2019 .
The family of Virginia Giuffre saw the King's action as a victory for her. Her family released a statement calling her an "ordinary American girl" who "brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage" . They said Giuffre never stopped fighting for accountability. They promised to continue her battle until all people connected to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell are held responsible .
The move to strip a prince of his titles is extremely rare in modern British history. The last time it happened was in 1919. Then, Prince Ernest Augustus lost his British title for fighting for Germany in World War I . This shows how serious the current situation is considered to be within the palace .
Despite losing his titles, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne . Removing his place in the line of succession would be a much more complex process. It would require laws to be passed not just in the United Kingdom but in other Commonwealth countries .
The anti-monarchy group Republic said that losing titles is not the same as facing justice. The group announced it has instructed lawyers to start a private prosecution against Andrew over accusations of sexual offenses . In the United States, a Democratic congressman urged Andrew to testify before a Congressional committee about what he knows of Epstein's crimes .
King Charles's decision is seen as an attempt to control the damage to the monarchy's reputation. The scandal had begun to touch the King directly. Earlier this week, he was heckled by a protester during a public event. The man shouted, "How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?" . The royal family, led by King Charles and with the support of Prince William, has now drawn a firm line . They have taken the most powerful actions available to them to separate the institution of the monarchy from the ongoing scandal surrounding Andrew .