After a year of embarrassing sex allegations related to Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew on Thursday was stripped of his title by Buckingham Palace.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” a statement said. “These censures are deemed necessary, not withstanding 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 move comes amid years of outrage over connections between Andrew and Epstein. Andrew has denied any wrongdoing but has been stripped of positions for several years.
Andrew stepped away from the spotlight after he was linked to the notorious late billionaire financier. This month Andrew publicly announced he would not use his title or honours, distancing himself even further from the royal family.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further,” he said in an Oct. 17 statement released by Buckingham Palace. “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.”
Andrew continued to deny the accusations. But the royal family’s decision to strip him of his titles, after emails emerged that he remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted, is a grave consequence for King Charles III’s younger brother, who has faced questions about his relationship to Epstein.
Andrew faced accusations that he had sex with Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein, when she was 17. Giuffre sued Andrew and the two reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022, but Andrew did not admit any wrongdoing.
Guiffre died this year at the age of 41. After her death, her book, “Nobody’s Girl,” was published, in which she alleged that Andrew acted as if “having sex with me was his birthright.”
She also alleged in the book that Andrew’s team hired internet trolls to harass her.
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