King Charles III of the United Kingdom has begun the official process of stripping his brother, Prince Andrew, of all royal titles, including the title of prince, amid reports of Andrew’s connections with financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of sexual abuse of minors, reports Baltimore Chronicle, with reference to CNN and BBC. Buckingham Palace stated on October 30 that Charles III initiated the formal procedure to remove all honors, titles, and awards from Prince Andrew.
According to the statement, Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The residence he rented, Royal Lodge, previously provided him with legal protection that allowed him to continue living there. He has now been officially notified to vacate the property and will move to another private residence. Buckingham Palace described these measures as “necessary,” despite Andrew continuing to deny the allegations against him.
Earlier, The Guardian published excerpts from the posthumous memoirs of Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that she had sexual relations with Andrew when she was 17. Giuffre stated that Andrew acted as if sexual relations with her were “his right by birth.” Andrew himself has consistently denied any intimate involvement with her.
In response to the controversy, Prince Andrew renounced all his titles, including Duke of York, stating that he had chosen “to place duty to family and country first,” while firmly denying the accusations against him.
Nevertheless, as CNN noted, relinquishing his titles did not stop the public backlash and raised new questions about how he was able to pay Giuffre a multimillion-dollar settlement in the 2022 civil case, despite no longer being an active member of the royal family since 2019. The publication also highlighted that public anger intensified after it emerged that in 2003 Andrew paid one million dollars for the Royal Lodge, located in the heart of Windsor Park, and had subsequently paid only a symbolic rent “at the request of the landlord.”
Earlier we wrote that Dutch Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia Starts Military Career as Reservist.
