The palace announced on Thursday that King Charles III is stripping his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and removing him from his long-term house on the Windsor estate, the latest fallout from the scandal-plagued royal’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein incident.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” Buckingham Palace said, adding Charles had begun the formal process to remove all his brother’s titles.
Andrew has also been instructed to vacate his long-term residence on Windsor Castle’s extensive grounds and relocate “to alternative private accommodation” as soon as feasible.
The announcement came as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s primary accusers leveled new sexual assault allegations against the 65-year-old, who has denied the charges.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said.
“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 added.
It comes just days after the posthumous publication of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, in which the victim of US sex offender Epstein confirmed in shocking detail allegations that she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, twice when she was only 17.
Andrew is thought to have had no objections to the king’s choice, and the UK government has been consulted.
Giuffre committed suicide in April at the age of 41, while Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking accusations.
Giuffre’s family, which had lobbied for Andrew’s title of prince to be abolished, applauded the action Thursday, telling the BBC that “today, she declares a victory.”
“Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” they said.
“Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and countless other survivors like her.”
Andrew, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has frequently refuted the charges.
However, he agreed to pay millions of dollars to Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, in 2022 to settle her civil sexual assault action against him.
Adding to the outrage sparked by Giuffre’s successful novel, The Times revealed last week that the prince has only paid a nominal rent for the previous two decades on his Royal Lodge residence in the Windsor estate, where he resides with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The arrangement is the result of a seemingly favorable 2003 deal for the home owned by the Crown Estate, the royal family’s independently managed land and property assets.
Moves to expel Andrew from the Royal Lodge have accelerated in recent days, fueled by the impending relocation of Charles’ son Prince William, heir to the throne; his wife, Kate; and their children to a new residence not far from the lodge.
In yet another bombshell, the BBC revealed this week that Andrew invited Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is imprisoned for trafficking, and former US film mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is now imprisoned for rape, to the Lodge in 2006 to celebrate his daughter Beatrice’s 18th birthday.
Meanwhile, public outrage has escalated. On Monday, the king was heckled during a visit to a cathedral when a guy in the crowd yelled, “How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?”
Andrew, on the other hand, had dug his heels in and was apparently only willing to leave the Royal Lodge in exchange for the opportunity to live in Frogmore Cottage, the former residence of his nephew Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.
Andrew was also reportedly requesting that Ferguson be allowed to settle into Adelaide Cottage when William and his family leave.
It was reported Thursday that Andrew will go to the king’s estate in Sandringham, eastern Norfolk, and will be privately sponsored by Charles.
