It comes as Virginia Giuffre’s memoir continues to haunt Andrew
HUMILIATED Prince Andrew was last night forced to give up all his royal titles after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal erupted again.
In a spectacular fall from grace, the former Duke of York, 65, stepped down after King Charles and Prince William told him to quit.
Sources close to Charles last night said he was “glad” his brother had stepped aside as the waves of scandals engulfing him became an “unwelcome distraction”.
It is understood William, Prince of Wales was also closely involved with giving Andrew his marching orders from the Royal Family, and is happy with the outcome.
At 7pm Andrew released a terse statement through Buckingham Palace.
It read: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
He will no longer use his Duke of York title, given to him by the late Queen Elizabeth II on July 23, 1986, the day of his wedding to Sarah Ferguson.
He has also given up his role as a member of the Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior order of chivalry in the UK, which he was given in 2006.
Palace sources confirmed he will not be invited to Christmas celebrations at Sandringham.
And he is likely to be banished from all future major royal events.
However, he will continue to live at 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, where he has a “cast-iron” tenancy agreement until 2078.
It is understood the King and William are eager to get him out of the mansion, close to Windsor Castle and half a mile from the Wales’s new home, Forest Lodge.
Royal sources said Andrew’s daughters Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, will remain princesses in the same way he remains a prince.
Those are titles they are born with and cannot be taken away.
Ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will no longer use the title Duchess of York — which she has not used professionally for many years anyway.
The Sun understands frantic negotiations led by the King have been happening behind the scenes all week about Andrew’s future.
They were sparked by The Sun on Sunday’s exclusive story that he had lied about when he was last in contact with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
We revealed Andrew sent an email to Epstein on February 28 2011, saying “We are in this together”.
It proved he lied in his 2019 Newsnight interview in which he claimed he broke off contact with the US financier three months earlier, in December 2010.
The email was also sent hours after a photo emerged of Andrew with his arm around Virginia’s waist at Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home.
Andrew told Epstein in the email: “I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me! It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it.
“Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”
He signed it HRH Duke of York, adding KG, standing for Knight of the Order of the Garter. The allegations continued as excerpts from Virginia’s memoir Nobody’s Girl were revealed in Thursday’s Sun.
Virginia, who committed suicide in April aged 41 has alleged she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew on three occasions.
In the memoir, set to be published on Tuesday, she accused him of being “entitled” and seeing sex with her as his birthright.
Last night her family said his decision to give up the titles was a “victory” for her.
They added: “This decisive action is a powerful step forward in our fight to bring Epstein and Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking network to justice.
Further, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to remove the title of Prince.
“This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained, ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me’.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/royals/15363214/andrew-stripped-of-royal-title
