King Charles III has started the formal process to strip his younger brother, Andrew, of titles and honours, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday in a statement noting he will no longer be called “prince.”
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the statement reads.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
Andrew has also been removed from his residence, the Royal Lodge, and will move into alternative private accommodation.
The BBC reported on Thursday that Mountbatten Windsor will move into a property on the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, and that it will be privately funded by the king.
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“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement continued.
“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 announcement from Buckingham Palace comes two weeks after Mountbatten Windsor had said he was giving up the use of the titles, including that of the Duke of York — given to him by the late Queen Elizabeth II — after his alleged links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines.
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“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Mountbatten Windsor had said in a statement on Oct. 17 when he announced he would no longer use the titles.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life,” it continued. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Mountbatten Windsor’s previously-announced decision not to use certain titles, followed by the King’s announcement, follows the stripping of his military titles and royal patronages by the late Queen and the posthumous publication of Virginia Giuffre‘s memoir.
Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most famous accusers, alleged, up until she died by suicide in April, that she had been introduced to the then-prince through Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and that she was forced to have sex with him at the age of 17.
This is a developing story.
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