PA MediaPrince Andrew has been stripped of his “prince” title and will leave his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.
The King has “initiated a formal process” to remove his titles, it said, and Andrew now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Andrew, 65 – the King’s younger brother – has continued to face more questions about his private life in recent months.
His links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein have caused problems for the Royal Family. The prince, who relinquished his titles earlier this month, has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.
What did Buckingham Palace say?
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Thursday evening.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
It also addressed the place where he lives, Royal Lodge.
“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.”
The language of Buckingham Palace’s statement was “very brutal,” royal historian Kelly Swaby told the BBC.
“Ordinary people don’t care about the semantics, they want to see punishment, and public opinion is very much against Andrew, the Palace knows that, and the language very much reflect that”.
The decision was made, and action taken, due to serious lapses in Andrew’s judgement, it is understood.
It is also understood that the wider Royal Family and the government was consulted, and made clear it supports the decision.
Where will he live?
It is understood Andrew will be relocated to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, but details about his specific housing have not been released.
The wider Sandringham estate covers approximately 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) with 600 acres (242 hectares) of gardens – and the Palace has not said which property he will stay in.
One of the options previously suggested as where he could move to was Wood Farm, located on the estate surrounds, a cottage privately owned by the monarch.
Described as “small and intimate” by former housekeeper Teresa Thompson, the cottage has strong associations with Andrew’s parents.
His father, the late Duke of Edinburgh, chose the secluded property as his permanent home when he retired from public life in 2017.
It is understood that Sarah Ferguson, 66, Andrew’s ex-wife, will also move out of Royal Lodge and will make 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”.
Will he get money from the King?
It is understood Andrew’s accommodation will be privately funded by the King.
And the King will make “appropriate private provision” for his brother as he moves out of his home.
Royal sources have previously said the King has tried to apply pressure, and last year cut off Andrew’s funding last year.
Andrew also cultivated his own independent sources of funding since leaving public life, including business connections with China, the Gulf States and a recently curtailed project with a Dutch start-up company.
Earlier this week, Parliament’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee wrote a letter detailing the “considerable and understandable public interest in the spending of public money” relating to Andrew.
The letter asked what the Crown Estate’s plan was to ensure value for money in any future agreements with Andrew.
How will his titles be removed?
Andrew is understood not to have objected to the King’s decision to remove his titles – and it will take place with immediate effect.
His birth certificate will not need to be changed as the title change will not apply respectively.
The titles being stripped are: Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh. And he will no longer have the right to be called His Royal Highness. The honours of Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order will also be removed.
To remove the titles, the King will send Royal warrants to the Lord Chancellor – who is David Lammy – to officially remove them.
It comes just weeks after Andrew voluntary gave up his other royal titles, including the Duke of York.
On 17 October, Andrew said he would stop using the titles because the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family”. “I vigorously deny the accusations against me,” he said.
Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice will retain their titles, as they are the daughters of the son of a Sovereign. This is in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
Until this month, Ferguson kept the title Sarah, Duchess of York – but she reverted to her maiden name of Ferguson after Andrew was stripped of his Duke of York title.
Andrew still remains eighth in line to the throne.
What led up to this?
Andrew’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are at the centre of this latest announcement.
In recent weeks, pressure has increased on the monarchy to resolve the issue of Charles’s brother, with the King heckled earlier this week by a protester.
Although Andrew denies the accusations, the Royal Family considers there have been “serious lapses of judgement” in his behaviour.
Earlier this month, emails from 2011 re-emerged, showing Andrew in contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein months after he claimed their friendship ended.
In her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl Virginia Giuffre repeated allegations that, as a teenager, she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions – claims he has always denied.
Earlier this month, emails from 2011 re-emerged, showing Andrew in contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein months after he claimed their friendship ended.
What happens next?
Historians tell the BBC Andrew will continue to be frozen out of royal public life.
He is already not invited to attend royal public events., and his recent appearances have been limited to private, family events, such as funerals or memorials.
This fiasco will continue to dog the royal family, says historian and author Andrew Lownie.
“They’re finally getting ahead of the story, but this isn’t the end of it,” Lownie told the BBC.
The Palace is “finally taking some decisive action” – but it “won’t completely satisfy the public disquiet”.
Campaigners against the monarchy say there should be a wider investigation into what the Royal Family might have known about Prince Andrew’s links to Epstein.
“This isn’t just about family. It’s not a private matter,” says Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic.
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