Friends of Prince William tell the Daily Beast that William plans sweeping reforms when he becomes king, using special executive orders to remove princely titles from all non-working royals.
As king, William will strip Prince Andrew and all other non-working royals of their honorific “HRHs” and princely titles, friends and allies of the prince told the Daily Beast.
Earlier this week, Andrew was “encouraged” to give up his title of Duke of York following revelations about his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He remains a prince, however, because the title is protected by law.
William plans to undo that protection. The dramatic change will be effected by an executive royal order known as “letters patent,” to be ratified by Parliament in the early weeks of the reign of King William V. It will remove princely titles from Beatrice, Eugenie, Harry, Archie, and Lilibet. The children of Prince Edward and Princess Anne have never used princely titles.
Meghan and Harry will also see their dukedoms and HRHs formally revoked by the new king, the source said. Meghan continues to use her HRH, despite being ordered not to do so by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
A source said William’s own children may have their titles informally “parked” until they become adults and can decide for themselves if they want to be full-time working royals or lead lives as private citizens. The source said they are never addressed as “prince” or “princess” by their parents, teachers, staff, or family.
William is understood to have lobbied hard for Andrew to have his title of prince removed and to be dissatisfied with the settlement announced Friday, under which Andrew will stop using his “Duke of York” title while still being referred to as Prince Andrew.
Just this week, the king’s own aides were briefing the media that it was not worth removing the dukedom, as “prince” sounded grander than “duke” anyway.
One ally of William’s told the Daily Beast: “On Wednesday, the king’s office was saying that removing the dukedom would be a completely lame and ineffectual gesture unless you took away the prince title as well. On Friday, it’s suddenly the other way round, and persuading him to drop the duke title, without even taking it away, is being held up as a triumph of the king’s steely will. His operation is a mess.”
Another friend of William’s, who told the Daily Beast about the plan to remove a huge swath of princely titles, said, “It should have been done by Charles this week, but William knows he doesn’t have the strength because of his illness. William is understanding of his father’s situation. William won’t be afraid to take the next step.”
They added: “William thinks about Queen Margrethe of Denmark a lot.”
In 2022, Queen Margrethe II removed princely titles from four of her grandchildren—Nikolai, Felix, Henrik, and Athena. The Queen said the decision would give her grandchildren greater freedom to shape their own lives.
The information gathered on this issue by the Daily Beast tallies with a report in the London Sunday Times that Andrew will be excluded from William’s coronation, that William considers his uncle a “threat” to the monarchy, and is deeply concerned about the message Andrew’s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse.
In an interview with the Canadian actor and comedian Eugene Levy, William said he wanted to ensure the institution he will one day lead was “fit for purpose,” saying: “Change is on my agenda. Change for good. I don’t fear it.”
One former Buckingham Palace staffer told the Daily Beast that William strongly opposed Friday’s statement being issued in Andrew’s name and Andrew’s defiant tone.
They said phone lines “were running hot” between William and the king, and that last-minute negotiations meant the statement was not ready in time for the 6 p.m. news bulletins, as had been intended, instead being issued at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Andrew ordered cops to investigate Giuffre
Prince Andrew’s entitlement extended to trying to use the country’s police force as his own private detective agency in an attempt to smear Virginia Giuffre, newly published emails show.
He passed confidential personal information, including Giuffre’s social security number, to his taxpayer-funded police bodyguard with orders to investigate her.
Andrew has not explained how he accessed the social security number, but many will assume it came from her employer, Jeffrey Epstein.
According to leaked emails published in the Mail on Sunday, the shamed prince asked one of his Metropolitan Police personal-protection officers to investigate Giuffre just before the now-infamous photograph of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre’s waist was published in 2011.
“It would also seem she has a criminal record in the States,” the prince allegedly wrote. “I have given her DoB and social security number for investigation with [name redacted], the on-duty PPO.”
The revelations landed within 24 hours of King Charles ordering his brother to relinquish his remaining royal titles. The decision followed the publication of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir and the emergence of an email showing Andrew had stayed in touch with Jeffrey Epstein far longer than he admitted—a “tipping point” that convinced King Charles and Prince William that Andrew posed an intolerable, reputational risk.
While the U.K. newspapers have portrayed this as decisive and swift action by the king, in fact, the debacle has been dragging on for years, and Charles only finally acted under increasingly furious demands from his son and heir, Prince William.
Andrew Lownie, the prince’s biographer, told the Daily Beast: “It’s not enough. The King should have removed Andrew’s titles, not just asked him to stop using them. There is much more to come; this is the tip of the iceberg.”
Giuffre’s family condemned Andrew’s request to the police to dig up intel on her as proof of “the lengths to which those implicated try to discredit and defame survivors.”
Andrew’s allies described the slow dismantling of Andrew’s status as “salami-slicing” in the Daily Telegraph, and argued he should have been given a chance to clear his name in court.
Another source said the latest blow had devastated both Andrew and Ferguson: “It’s about the loss of status, the public humiliation, and the shrinking of their world. Day by day, his life gets smaller.” Andrew reportedly canceled a planned birthday celebration for Ferguson at their Windsor home last week. Her children did not publicly wish her a happy birthday.
Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, said the family felt “vindicated” but insisted that “true justice” required the removal of Andrew’s prince title as well. “He shouldn’t be able to call himself one,” he said.
Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, published this week, alleges Andrew insisted on a one-year gagging order after their settlement to avoid overshadowing Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
Prince William is understood to be considering further measures to protect the monarchy’s image when he becomes king, including the possibility of excluding his uncle from his coronation.
Legal experts warned the episode could have serious consequences, with renewed calls for a police investigation.
‘Scrounging’ Sarah Ferguson Borrowed Huge Sums From Epstein
Sarah Ferguson’s long-standing claim that she accepted only £15,000 (then $18,000) from Jeffrey Epstein has been exposed as the nonsense many have long suspected it was.
Sarah’s biographer and nemesis Andrew Lownie has said she accepted in the region of $2 million.
Newly unearthed emails published by the Mail on Sunday reveal the pedophile financier secretly bankrolled the Duchess of York for around 15 years, footing her bills, paying off debts, and fielding repeated pleas for money that ran into tens of thousands of dollars.
In the messages, Epstein complained to friends about Ferguson’s “scrounging ways,” describing how she begged to borrow between $50,000 and $100,000 to cover “small bills.”
He even wrote that she was “the first to celebrate” his release from jail “with her two daughters in tow.” At the time Princess Beatrice was 20 and Princess Eugenie 19—around the same age as many of Epstein’s victims.
The cache of emails, now under review by the U.S. Congress, reveals a relationship far more intimate and financially dependent than Ferguson ever admitted.
They show that while she publicly distanced herself from Epstein after his 2008 conviction for child sex offences, privately she continued to ask for his help with money, charities, and even media strategy, with Epstein providing her with “talking points” before an Oprah Winfrey interview.
One email shows Epstein paying off a debt Ferguson owed to her former personal assistant, John O’Sullivan, to the tune of £15,000 ($18,000). Another from January 2011 has him informing Prince Andrew, “JS done,” confirming the payment.
Andrew replied, “Fantastic!!! Thank you. Thank you.” Later messages reveal that O’Sullivan was demanding a further $60,000 (£49,000) in unpaid wages, and Epstein warned Andrew a second payment could “look like a payoff.” Andrew’s response, “So I could get it paid by someone else?”, only deepened the impression of murky financial entanglement.
Despite publicly declaring she would “never have anything to do with” Epstein again, Ferguson continued corresponding with him. He helped her set up a charity, and even bought her the domain name “Mother’s Army.” When she later apologized in the London Evening Standard for accepting the £15,000, Epstein fumed in an email to French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel: “The duchess that I have financially helped for 15 years said she wants nothing to do with a pedophile and child sex abuser. It has caused quite a stir.”
Epstein subsequently demanded that Ferguson write him a public letter of apology, even threatening to sue her if she refused. One draft of the letter found in the email trove read: “Dear Jeffrey, I wanted you to know with certainty that many things said in the press about you that were attributed to me were either a totally malicious fabrication or an outrageous exaggeration… There was never a claim of pedophilia… You have been a loyal friend of my family for many years.”
The correspondence leaves no doubt that Epstein financed Ferguson far beyond the token £15,000 ($18,000) she once admitted. As one source close to the situation told the Mail: “Andrew and Sarah were in it up to their necks. It was always about the money—and Epstein got sick and tired of being their bank… Sarah and Prince Andrew have always maintained they distanced themselves from Epstein after his conviction for child prostitution. In fact, it was Epstein who ended up dumping them. He got sick and tired of Sarah constantly asking him for money.”
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