Prince Andrew agrees to give up titles following a string of ‘accusations’

The announcement was made in a statement released by Buckingham Palace, as ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship reports

Prince Andrew has agreed to give up his titles over the “continued accusations” against him.

The announcement came hours before documents released by the US claimed the prince took flights aboard paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet on four occasions.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday, the prince said: “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.

“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.

“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. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Documents released by the US on Friday state the prince is listed on flight logs as having flown from Luton to Edinburgh on September 1 2006, with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as a flight from May 12 2000, where he is named as travelling with Epstein, Maxwell, celebrity chef Adam Perry Lang, a bodyguard and three others.

Two further flights from 1999 also displayed the name “Prince Andrew”, alongside royal protection officer Steve Burgess.

The announcement that the Prince was relinquishing his titles follows reports that the King was considering stripping him of the title of Duke of York, because Prince Andrew’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was once again in the headlines.

Excerpts of an upcoming posthumous memoir by Virginia Roberts Giufffre, who alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17, have been published, renewing interest in the scandal.

Andrew, 65, stepped down from public life in 2019 over the allegations, but denied any wrongdoing.

Giuffre died by suicide in April. In the memoir she detailed alleged encounters with Prince Andrew, who she sued in 2021, claiming that they had sex when she was 17.

Andrew denied her claims and the two settled the lawsuit in 2022.

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The flight logs have surfaced after the US House Oversight Committee published hundreds of further documents from Epstein’s estate on Friday.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial previously threw Andrew’s name into the spotlight by naming him as a passenger on Epstein’s jet – with one of the disgraced British socialite’s accusers saying she also flew with the prince in the mid-1990s.

One of the jet’s pilots, Larry Visoski, told the trial that Andrew flew on the aircraft a “number of times”.

The announcement means that Andrew will continue to be a prince but will no longer use the title Duke of York.

His former wife Sarah Ferguson will no longer use the title Duchess of York. She has also come under recent scrutiny, after seven charities severed ties with her over emails in which she told Epstein he was a ‘supreme friend’ despite disowning him publicly.

It is understood the changes will take effect immediately and that the decision was made in close consultation with the King, the Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal family.

Andrew is expected to continue living at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, because he has a private tenancy agreement with the Crown Estate.

The prince’s HRH title was already inactive, but this announcement means his other titles and honours will also become inactive.

Andrew will not be attending any Royal family events at Christmas, ITV News understands.

This is the Talking Royals – our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.