Britain’s King Charles has moved to strip his younger brother Andrew of his titles and honours, and force him out of his home, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday, over his ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The statement said a formal notice had now been served on Andrew to surrender the lease of his mansion called Royal Lodge, and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
The palace said Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and not as a prince.
Pressure had been growing on the palace to oust the prince from Royal Lodge after he surrendered his use of the title Duke of York earlier this month over his friendship with Epstein and allegations by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
But the King went even further, stripping him of the title of prince that he has had since birth as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said. “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.”
