The British monarchy will remove the title of “prince” from Prince Andrew, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace issued on Thursday, in which it was reported that he will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, as he faces the consequences of his past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Key facts
The British Royal Family began the process of stripping Andrew of his “Style, Titles and Honors,” according to the statement, almost two weeks after he voluntarily renounced his title of Duke of York and other honors.
In addition, he will be required to hand over the lease on his residence at Royal Lodge and move to “private accommodations”, according to the statement, and the BBC later reported that he will move to a property in Sandringham privately financed by his brother, King Charles III.
Also read: Virginia Giuffre said that Prince Andrew believed that having sex with her ‘was his birthright’
Andrew has long denied the allegations made against him by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, but the Royal Family noted that these “sanctions were deemed necessary” against the former prince.
key quote
The Royal Family stated that it wanted to “make it clear that its thoughts and deepest sympathies have been and will continue to be with the victims and survivors of any form of abuse.” Andrew was accused of sexual abuse by Giuffre, who claimed that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell brought her to the prince. Giuffre died by suicide in April, but her autobiography was published posthumously, bringing new scrutiny to her accusations against Andrés.
Important context
Giuffre was one of several powerful women Epstein and Maxwell allegedly trafficked when she was a minor, and in 2021 she sued the former prince seeking damages for sexual abuse. Before the case went to trial, Andrew stepped down from his duties as a working member of the royal family in 2019, and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his military titles in 2022. The former prince consistently denied the allegations against him, but eventually settled with Giuffre for an undisclosed sum that same year. British media later reported that the deal could have fetched between $12 million and $15 million.
This article was originally published on Forbes US
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