LONDON (BN24) — Prince Andrew will no longer be known as a prince and is to leave Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace confirmed in a bombshell statement released tonight.
The palace said he will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor with immediate effect. The announcement comes as the palace said the “censures are deemed necessary” amid the ongoing scandal over Jeffrey Epstein, whom Andrew lied about cutting ties with.
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the statement said. “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement continued. “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.”
In the wake of the announcement, a number of cars were seen going through the gate to Windsor’s Great Park on Bishopsgate Road, near to Royal Lodge.
It is understood King Charles III is in the process of sending royal warrants to the Lord Chancellor to remove his brother’s titles and honours. Andrew is said to have not objected.
Although the former duke has been stripped of all his remaining titles, those of his daughters, Princess Beatrice, thirty-seven, and Princess Eugenie, thirty-five, will remain. Amid the controversy it was previously understood that His Majesty Charles was very keen to “protect” his nieces who remain Her Royal Highnesses as granddaughters of Queen Elizabeth.
“He wouldn’t have wanted to sign off on anything that would impact them,” a source told the Daily Mail.
It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King’s leadership on the recent move.
Andrew’s departure from the Royal Lodge, where he paid “peppercorn rent” over twenty years, comes amid an ongoing row over the residence since his dukedom title was stripped earlier this month. As of today, it is understood Andrew has been served notice to surrender the lease at the thirty-bedroom mansion and will move out of the residence as soon as practically possible.
The younger brother of the King will be moved to a property on the Sandringham estate but the specifics regarding the relocation are unknown. Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will make her own living arrangements after moving out of the royal grounds of Windsor Castle.
The move was entirely down to the King and his advisers, without pressure from the government or other family members such as Prince William, sources told the Daily Mail. “The process has been under way for some while but there was a need to get it right in the face of some very big challenges,” an insider said.
Notice was not served on Prince Andrew to move. It was his lease, so it was up to the former Duke of York to serve notice himself, suggesting that he is not fighting the process.
The former duke has lived at the Grade II-listed mansion on the grounds of Windsor Castle for over two decades with Fergie, despite their divorce in 1996.
It comes as His Majesty had made it clear he would not hesitate to take “further action” if his younger brother continued to cling on to his dukedom and other honours after he lied about cutting ties with paedophile financier Epstein, the Daily Mail previously revealed.
Despite the tsunami of growing evidence mounting against him, the sixty-five-year-old was understood to still be “digging his heels in” with a “startling lack of contrition,” in a situation the King deemed “intolerable,” sources previously said.
Last week, the row over the Royal Lodge continued to grow amid damning revelations in a posthumous memoir from Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre, who took her own life this year, aged forty-one.
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice was released this month, with the manuscript having been completed before she died. The explosive book revolves around her years spent as a sex slave to Epstein and his British madam Ghislaine Maxwell.
Extracts published by The Guardian show Ms Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein three times for sex with Andrew, called the ex-duke “entitled” and viewing sex as his “birthright.”
Within the four-hundred-page autobiography, she also alleged the ex-duke said “thank you” in a “clipped British accent” after their alleged first encounter when she was seventeen. She also recalled how Ghislaine Maxwell praised her following the encounter, saying, “You did well, the prince had fun.”
Andrew denied having sex with Ms Giuffre but forked out millions in an out of court settlement in February 2022.
The Royal Family had been prepared for the further scandal the book would likely cause, knowing it was to be published this month.
In the wake of the Giuffre scandal, Andrew is facing a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office. Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said it has instructed lawyers to investigate the prince and, if appropriate, press ahead with legal proceedings.
The Daily Mail understands the allegations it is focusing on relate to claims he sexually assaulted Giuffre, that he asked a royal protection officer to look into her background and impropriety when he served as an official UK trade envoy.
Republic said it is mounting its own bid to take him to court because the legal and political response to the claims has been “weak and inadequate” to date. It said it has made a “powerful, principled argument for justice to be done for the victims of sexual abuse, and for those who corrupt public office to be held accountable.”
“If not us, then who?” asked Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy group. “It’s a devastating indictment on the UK’s criminal justice system, police and politicians – not to mention the king and heir – that we must resort to a private prosecution.”
A private prosecution brought by Republic would not involve a statutory prosecutor such as Crown Prosecution Service, which brings cases on behalf of the Crown. They are commonly brought by organisations such as the RSPCA but can be brought by private individuals.
Earlier this evening Ms Giuffre’s family spoke out after the former duke was stripped of his remaining titles. Her brother Skye and sister-in-law Amanda said: “Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, 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 to countless other survivors like her. Today, she declares victory.”
It is understood earlier this month the Metropolitan Police was “actively” looking into the claims Andrew had asked his personal protection officer to investigate Ms Giuffre, and that he was interviewed by detectives at home last week.
A bombshell email published by the Mail on Sunday earlier this month revealed how Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded protection officer to dig into her past two months after the infamous photo of him with Giuffre and Maxwell came to light.
Scandalous correspondence from Andrew to Epstein emerged, with the former duke telling the paedophile “we are in this together” a day after the infamous picture of the royal with his alleged then-teenage sex victim Ms Giuffre was released.
The correspondence was sent to Epstein twelve weeks after Andrew had supposedly ceased all contact with the convicted sex offender. The leaked email provides definitive proof the Prince lied in his car-crash interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he “never had any contact” with the disgraced financier after the pair were famously pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.
Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who has previously called for Prince Andrew to testify before a US Congressional committee about his links to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, has again urged Andrew to give evidence.
Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson. Following revelation of emails to Epstein, Sarah was dropped by seven charities after “humbly apologising” to Epstein after disavowing him amid his conviction for child sexual abuse offences.
After Andrew and his ex-wife agreed to relinquish their titles, Buckingham Palace released a statement on the Prince’s behalf. It marked the first time it had spoken for him since his car crash Newsnight interview in 2019.
The statement read: “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.”
Politicians from across the aisle supported King Charles’ decision. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said His Majesty is “absolutely right” to strip Andrew of titles, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch remarked how the decision must have been “very difficult” for the King.
“It’s clear that Andrew’s position had become totally untenable, having disgraced his office and embarrassed the country,” Sir Davey said. “This is an important step towards rebuilding trust in our institutions and drawing a line under this whole sorry saga.”
Original story by: dailymail
