Buckingham Place has announced that Prince Andrew will no longer use the title “prince” and will move out of the Royal Lodge as he continues to be mires in scandal.
In an announcement late on Thursday, UK time, King Charles stated it had “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Andrew had already agreed to give up his Duke of York title after it emerged he had remained in touch with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously claimed.
The Palace statement also said that Andrew’s lease on the Royal Lodge, on the grounds of Windsor Palace, would end.
“Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation”.
The BBC has reported Andrew will move to the King’s Norfolk home of Sandringham, in England’s east, and that his accommodation will be funded by his father..
“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.”
Andrew’s daughters Eugenie and Beatrice will continue to be known as princesses. It’s not clear where Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York and ex wife of Andrew will live. She had been in the Royal Lodge with him and last week Andrew had demanded she receive a cottage on the Windsor estate.
.
It has been a bad day for Andrew with the announcement from an anti monarchy group that it was looking into a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office as scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein intensifies.
Following the release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir and a leaked email between Andrew and Epstein, antimonarchy group Republic has instructed lawyers to investigate the disgraced royal and, if “sufficient evidence” of wrongdoing is found, launch legal proceedings.
As the organisation’s CEO, Graham Smith, told the UK’s Sky News: “Justice must be seen to be done”.
Republic said it will look into “allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office”.
“If not us, then who? 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,” said Mr Smith.
“It should be a cause for concern that so many people believe – rightly in my view – that the royals are not treated equally in law. Equality in law is a basic tenet of democracy.
“I firmly believe there is strong enough evidence to justify a serious investigation. The truth must prevail and justice must be seen to be done.”
News.com.au has contacted the office of Andrew for comment
Prior to her suicide earlier this year, Ms Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, alleged that she’d had three sexual encounters with Andrew, including once when she was just 17, while she was being sex trafficked by Epstein.
Andrew has firmly denied all allegations of wrongdoing and has also denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
In 2022, he settled a civil case she brought against him in the US for a reported $24 million, which came with no admission of liability.
Ms Giuffre first reported the abuse claims against Andrew in early 2015, but London’s Metropolitan Police chose not to investigate on advice from the Crown Prosecution Service the following year.
After Epstein’s death in custody in 2019, the Met opened a review into its earlier decision and upheld the initial call.
In 2021, the decision was reviewed a third time, where it was decided again it would not be pursued, following Ms Giuffre’s civil claim against Andrew.
The scandal around Andrew has been growing in recent weeks, with Channel 4 News reporting that authorities are set to look into allegations that royal protection officers obstructed lawyers attempting to serve legal papers to the then-Duke of York at Royal Lodge in 2021 after he was accused of sexually abusing Ms Giuffre.
Last week, the Met also confirmed it was “actively” looking into claims that the prince attempted to use his taxpayer-funded police protection officer to try and dig into the past of his sex abuse accuser.
– with The Sun
