Prince Andrew is to be stripped of his royal titles and will move out of his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, Buckingham Palace has announced.
King Charles has initiated a “formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew”, who will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the palace said.
It is understood the king had the support of the Prince of Wales in the decision and Andrew did not object to the process.
The decision follows anxiety within the royal household about the reputational risk to the monarchy caused by continual headlines concerning Andrew’s friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual assault against him by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre.
This month the Guardian published extracts from the posthumous memoir of Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, aged 41. In the book she claimed the prince “believed that having sex with me was his birthright”.
Andrew has always denied claims he had sex with Giuffre when she was 17, and settled a civil case with her for a reported £12m with no admission of liability.
Giuffre’s family said on Thursday that “today, she declares a victory” and that she had “brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage”.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “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.
“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.”
It is understood that Andrew will move to a property on the private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, to be privately funded by the king.
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also move out of Royal Lodge and will sort out her own living arrangements.
Formal notice was given to surrender the lease at the Royal Lodge on Thursday and it is understood that Andrew’s move to Sandringham will take place “as soon as practicable”. He will receive a private provision from the king, with any other sources of income to be a matter for the former duke.
The removal process applies to the titles of Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and the style His Royal Highness. The honours affected are Andrew’s Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. He had ceased to use the HRH style in 2022 but it had not been formally removed.
As daughters of the son of a monarch, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie retain their titles in line with King George V’s letters patent of 1917.
The king is understood to have acted now because while Andrew continues to deny the accusations against him, it is felt that there have been serious lapses of judgment.
The royal family had announced on 17 October that Andrew would voluntarily stop using the title Duke of York and give up his honours as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
But MPs proceeded to call for Andrew to be formally stripped of his titles. The public accounts select committee this week wrote to the Treasury and crown estate to demand more information about the circumstances of the terms of his residence at the 30-room Royal Lodge and why he was required to pay only a peppercorn rent.
Although the dukedom could be abolished through an act of parliament, it is understood that Charles did not wish to prevent parliament from focusing on urgent national issues.
The dukedom of York is a peerage. The king is sending royal warrants to the lord chancellor to secure the removal of the dukedom from the peerage roll, and the title of prince and style of Royal Highness. The subsidiary titles of Inverness and Killyleagh are similarly affected.
The move is understood to have taken place in consultation with the relevant government authorities. The government supports the decision.
In a statement to the BBC, Giuffre’s family 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 countless other survivors like her.
“Today, she declares a victory. We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of her abusers and abetters, connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Sky Roberts, Giuffre’s brother, commended the king for “setting a precedent” and thanked him for the mention of “victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse” in the statement, but said Andrew should be put “behind bars”.
Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times – once at the convicted sex trafficker Maxwell’s home in London, once at Epstein’s address in Manhattan, and once on the disgraced financier’s private island, Little St James. Andrew has always denied the allegations.
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said it must have been “very difficult” for the king to take the steps against his sibling, but that it was right for the public not to tolerate sexual abuse allegations.
The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told BBC Question Time that removing Andrew’s titles was a “really brave, important and right step” by the king, which sends a “powerful message” to sexual abuse victims.
The Democratic congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who has previously called for Andrew to testify before a US Congressional committee about his links to Epstein and Maxwell, urged Andrew to give evidence.
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. He owes it to the victims to share everything he knows about Epstein’s criminal operation and come before the oversight committee.
“Regardless, we will continue to pursue the files and all the evidence, no matter how rich and powerful the perpetrators involved.”
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