What we know as Andrew stripped of ‘prince’ title and forced out of Royal Lodge home by King Charles

Prince Andrew will be stripped of his princely title and be forced to move out of his Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor amid the ongoing fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

King Charles is initiating a formal process to remove Andrew’s titles and honours and formal notice has been served on him to surrender his lease at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The palace said Andrew “continues to deny the allegations against him”, but the statement adds: “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.”

Andrew will move to a property on the Sandringham Estate, it is understood, and any future accommodation will be privately funded by the King.

The family of the late Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was 17, said in a statement sent to the BBC that she “brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage”.

“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,” the statement said. “Today, she declares a victory.”

Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied any allegations against him.

What happens next?

Andrew’s move will take place as soon as is practicable, it is understood.

The disgraced royal will be stripped of his Prince and Duke of York titles and HRH style, as well as the subsidiary titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh.

Many titles can be removed under the “royal prerogative”, which means King Charles would not require parliamentary approval. Although the dukedom could be abolished through an Act of Parliament, it is understood that the King did not wish to take up parliamentary time or prevent MPs from focusing on urgent national issues.

Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also move out of the Royal Lodge and will sort her own living arrangements. Their children, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, are expected to keep their titles.

While the Royal Family will doubtless hope this will help quell public anger, historian Andrew Lownie, author of The Rise and Fall of the House of York, said of Andrew: “I don’t think it’s all over for him. I’m not sure it will completely satisfy the public disquiet.”

The anti-monarchy group Republic has also said it is considering launching legal action against Andrew. The organisation has instructed a law firm of private prosecution specialists to investigate and, if appropriate, begin a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office.

Andrew is also coming under pressure in the US.

Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who has previously called for Andrew to testify before a US Congressional committee about his links to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to “clear his name”, has again urged Andrew to give evidence.

In a statement, he said: “It’s clear that Prince Andrew has information about Epstein’s crimes and he must do more than just give up titles or hide from the public spotlight.”

How did we get here?

Andrew has been under pressure for years over his relationship with the late paedophile financier Epstein.

Ms Giuffre, who died in April, accused Andrew of sexually abusing her after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew has always denied this allegation and said he never met her. In 2022, Andrew paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, though he did so without accepting liability.

The story came back into the headlines this month with the publication of Giuffre’s posthumous memoirs.

In her book, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, Ms Giuffre disclosed further alleged details of the three occasions she claims she had sex with Andrew.

Amid a slew of lurid headlines, Andrew came under further pressure when it was reported that he told Epstein in an email, “we are in this together” in 2010. The email was sent three months after he claimed to have ended contact with the disgraced financier in his now infamous interview with BBC Newsnight and Emily Maitlis in 2019.

Andrew relinquished his royal titles on 17 October in light of these latest revelations, but the move failed to quell the pressure, particularly when it emerged he had been paying a “peppercorn” rent whilst living in the Royal Lodge for 20 years.

Timeline of Andrew-Epstein scandal in recent weeks

New emails from Ferguson to Epstein revealed

On 21 September, it emerged that Sarah Ferguson sent an apology email to Epstein after he threatened to “destroy” her family in a “chilling” phone call.

She sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a “supreme friend”, despite publicly disowning him in the media shortly before.

James Henderson, the Ferguson’s spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a “really menacing and nasty” phone call from the sex offender who had a “Hannibal Lecter-type voice”.

Andrew named in new Epstein files

On 26 September, Andrew was named in newly released, heavily redacted documents relating to Epstein which indicate he was a passenger on the paedophile financier’s jet and received $200 massages.

The documents also show an “Andrew” listed as having a massage on Epstein’s “General Ledger” on 16 May and 11 February 2000, the committee said.

Details of Andrew being a passenger on Epstein’s private jet were previously heard in court through Maxwell’s trial – with one of her accusers, who was 14 at the time, recalling she had travelled on a flight with Andrew.

Reports of new Andrew email to Epstein emerge

On 12 October, it was reported that Andrew told Epstein in an email “we are in this together” that was sent three months after Andrew had previously claimed to have ended contact with the paedophile financier.

The Sun on Sunday and the Mail on Sunday newspapers reported that the email was sent on 28 February 2011, the day after a photograph of Andrew and Ms Giuffre was published (below).

In his infamous BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019, Andrew told presenter Maitlis he had broken off his friendship with Epstein in December.

On 15 October, the Guardian published the first extract from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir in which she outlined allegations of when she claimed Andrew sexually assaulted her at Ghislaine Maxwell’s flat. She writes that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.

She said Epstein paid her 15,000 dollars for “servicing the man the tabloids called “‘Randy Andy'”.

The memoir also includes two other occasions the duke was alleged to have had sex with Giuffre, including in New York a month later and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands when she was around 18.

The extract describes the latter as an “orgy” with “approximately eight other young girls” who “appeared to be under the age of 18”.

The Metropolitan Police also says it will look into claims Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011.

Andrew told to stop using Duke of York title

Amid growing pressure following the release of extracts from Giuffre’s memoir, on 17 October it was revealed Andrew would stop using his remaining titles and honours, including the Duke of York.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Andrew said that in discussion with the King and his immediate and wider family, they decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.