King Charles strips Prince Andrew of royal title, orders him out of Windsor Home

King Charles III has officially stripped his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of his royal titles and ordered him to vacate his Windsor residence amid renewed scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement released on Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced that the King “has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.” The 65-year-old royal “will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” the statement added.

The palace also confirmed that “formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease” on Royal Lodge, the Windsor mansion Andrew has occupied for over 20 years. He is expected to move to the royal estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, with future accommodation to be privately funded by the King.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement read. “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.”

Although it would take an act of parliament to formally remove his Duke of York title, Andrew voluntarily ceased using it earlier this month amid mounting pressure over his continued association with Epstein.

Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, who has retained the title Duchess of York since their 1996 divorce, will also move out of Royal Lodge and revert to her maiden name. The 66-year-old author and television personality is the mother of his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The royal decision follows the release of Nobody’s Girl, a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who reiterated claims that she was forced to have sex with Andrew as a teenager on three occasions — allegations he has repeatedly denied.

The move also coincides with the resurfacing of emails showing that Andrew maintained contact with Epstein months after publicly claiming to have severed ties with him in 2010.

Prince Andrew’s association with Epstein has shadowed his public life since his widely criticized BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, after which he withdrew from royal duties. In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in a civil lawsuit without admitting guilt, leading Queen Elizabeth to strip him of his honorary military titles and patronages.