Andrew will no longer live in a 30-room mansion (Picture: ZUMAPRESS.com/MEGA)
Andrew Windsor has been stripped of being a prince and will be kicked out of his Royal Lodge home by his older brother,King Charles.
The disgraced royal,who had agreed to stop using his titles after ongoing pressure due to his links with Jeffrey Epstein,has now had them taken from him to ensure that the title cannot be used officially.
He ‘will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’,Buckingham Palace said in a statement this evening.
It is understood that although Mr Windsor denies the accusations,Buckingham Palace consider that there have been ‘serious lapses of judgment’.
The ex-prince did not object to the King’s decision,it’s understood (Picture: Peter MacDiarmid/Shutterstock)
Buckingham Palace statement in full
His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style,Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. 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 Grade II listed building has 30 rooms inside (Picture: Shutterstock)
The gates to the Royal Lodge this evening (Picture: w8media)
Mr Windsor’s ex-wife,Sarah Ferguson,will also move out of the Royal Lodge and will sort her own living arrangements.
The family of Virginia Giuffre,who died earlier this year,said of the news: ‘Today,an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family,brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.
‘Virginia Roberts Giuffre,our sister,a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew,never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her.
‘Today,she declares victory.’
The decision caps off six years of controversy for the ex-prince following his calamitous BBC Newsnight interview about Epstein.
Mr Windsor’s links with Epstein,a convicted sexual predator,had plunged the monarchy into crisis.
His ties have long haunted the former duke,losing his job as a trade ambassador,his honorary military titles and the use of the honorific His Royal Highness.
Mr Windsor is still eighth in line for the throne (Picture: AFP)
Royal expert Mok O’Keeffe told Metro that,above all,the announcement today is for the ‘stability’ of the monarchy.
He added: ‘Whoever has made this decision,whether it is King Charles,his elder son Prince William,or Palace officials,they are ensuring that the crown is protected.
‘As we all learnt in the Netflix programme,The Crown must win.’
Royal author Robert Jobson said the move from King Charles was the ‘final humiliation’ for his younger brother.
He told Metro: ‘It will also certainly distance the royal family from any wrong doing.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told LBC Radio that it must have been difficult for the King to strip his brother of his titles.
She added: ‘But the standards and expectations in society now are very high. People expect to see the very highest levels of integrity.’
Ed Davey,the leader of the Liberal Democrats,said he backs the decision.
A look at Royal Lodge in Windsor
Reports claim that Mr Windsor paid ‘peppercorn’ rent (Picture: Shutterstock)
The Royal Lodge is a Grade II-listed building in Windsor that houses 30 rooms,including seven bedrooms.
The lavish mansion is made up of a central section standing at three storeys tall,with two-storey wings.
The current building structure dates back to the 19th century and was later expanded in the 1930s by the then Duke of York,also the future King George VI.
The residence was previously occupied by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until she died in 2002,aged 101.
Royal Lodge then became home to Mr Windsor and his family in 2004.
Campaigners have long called for Mr Windsor to leave the Royal Lodge.
Mr Windsor has reportedly paid ‘peppercorn rent’ – an arrangement where the payment is symbolic or very low – for the last 22 years.
He and his family were set to live in the mansion until 2078.
The lease states that the Crown Estate,which oversees the royal family’s massive land and property holdings,would have to pay around half a million pounds if he were to leave the mansion before this.
Ed Davey,said,‘the King is absolutely right to strip Prince Andrew of both his titles and his residence at the Royal Lodge’.
‘This is an important step towards rebuilding trust in our institution,’ he added.
SNP Leader in Westminster,Stephen Flynn,called it ‘the right decision and an important moment for the victims of Epstein’.
Question Time was briefly interrupted by the news that Mr Windsor’s titles had been stripped of his ‘prince’ title,to applause from the audience.
His popularity among the public is at an all-time low,disliked by 73% of the people surveyed by YouGov.
The last prince to have his title stripped was Ernest Augustus,the Duke of Cumberland,who fought for the German side of the Royal Family during World War One.
His name was removed from the Peerage Roll,which sets out royal and aristocratic titles,in 1919 for ‘bearing arms against Great Britain.’
At the same time,a written order changed the Royal Family’s last name from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor.
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