Prince Andrew stripped of 'prince' title and will have to move out of Royal Lodge

Britain's Prince Andrew, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, will have his royal titles formally removed and will have to move out of his home in Windsor, Buckingham Palace said Thursday, Oct. 30.

This comes as the royal faces growing pressure over his ties to the later s£x offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that King Charles had "initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours" of his younger brother. 

"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," the palace said, an escalation from measures announced two weeks ago, when it said that Andrew would stop using some of his titles, including the Duke of York. 

The palace said that the "censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him". 

"Their Majesties [King Charles and Queen Camilla] 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 statement added. 

The palace also said that a formal notice had been served for Andrew to leave his home at the Royal Lodge, close to Windsor Castle. 

It comes after revelations that Andrew was paying a rent of "one peppercorn (if demanded) per annum" on the 30-room mansion owned by the Crown Estate, despite stepping back from public duties six years ago. The arrangement was revealed in a Freedom of Information request by The Times newspaper last week.

The palace said: "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." 

Andrew will move to a property on the royal family's private Sandringham estate, and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will retain their titles, according to the Palace.

In a statement two weeks ago, Andrew cited "the continued accusations about me" that "distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family." 

"As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me," Andrew said. 

The storm has only intensified since, with the publication of late Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, detailing allegations against Andrew, last Monday. 

Giuffre, who di£d by su!cide in April, wrote that she had s£x with the prince on three occasions, including an “orgy” involving “eight other young girls” who “appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English.” 

Andrew reached a legal settlement with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount in February 2022 after she filed a civil case against him in a New York court accusing him of sxually assaulting her when she was 17 years old. He has repeatedly denied having met her and previously denied that a photograph of the two of them is real.