Prince Andrew gives up his Duke of York title
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Prince Andrew is giving up his royal title of the Duke of York and other honours as his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to make headlines.
The dramatic development in the long-running debacle comes after a fresh wave of controversy over the Epstein scandal.
Andrew made the decision in close consultation with both King Charles and Prince William, with the monarch said to be “glad” at the outcome.
It is believed to be the first time a senior royal has stopped using a dukedom for more than 100 years, since Queen Victoria’s grandson, the Duke of Albany, was stripped of his title for fighting on the German side during World War I.
“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,” Andrew said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
Referencing his decision to step down from public life more than five years ago, he added: “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”
Andrew will remain a prince, which he has been entitled to since birth, and the change will not affect his daughters, who will remain Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Sarah Ferguson, who split from the duke more than 30 years ago but remained one of his greatest supporters and still shares his Royal Lodge home, will, however, revert to her maiden name of Ferguson, losing her courtesy royal divorcee title Sarah, Duchess of York.
It was also confirmed Andrew will no longer join the King and the rest of the royal family at Christmas at Sandringham, which prevents him from strolling to church on Christmas Day in full public view, greeting wellwishers.
And he will no longer act as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, meaning he will not be able to take part in the annual Garter service inside Windsor Castle each June, having previously been banned from the outdoor procession.
He will also not be able to wear the Garter robes he was seen in at Charles’s coronation.
The move further shunts Andrew into the royal wilderness – and removes opportunity for him to be seen publicly alongside the King, William and the rest of the royal family.
The statement was released on Friday evening, UK time, just four days before the publication of a memoir by Andrew’s late alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, to whom he paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case despite claiming never to have met her.
At the same time, Andrew appeared in the latest document dump from pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, published by the US House Oversight Committee.
It showed “Prince Andrew” listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet from Luton to Edinburgh in 2006, alongside Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, and on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.
Giuffre, who died aged 41 in Australia in April, said she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17, after she was trafficked by Epstein.
She said in her memoir that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.
Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said it was an emotional time for the family.
“We’ve shed a lot of happy and sad tears today. I think happy because in a lot of ways this vindicates Virginia,” he told the BBC.
“She was a truth teller from the beginning.”
The prince denies the allegations against him.
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