Prince Andrew has been stripped of his royal titles and honors and ordered to leave his longtime residence the Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace said.
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the palace said in a statement Thursday evening, marking an extraordinary intervention by the British monarch.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the palace wrote. “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,” the statement added.
The announcement follows renewed scrutiny over Andrew’s friendship with the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as reports that he was living effectively rent-free in the 30-room lodge, prompting a barrage of wider questions about the way Britain’s royals are funded.
Andrew announced earlier this month that he would be giving up his titles, including the Duke of York, though he was expected to remain known as Prince Andrew.
Andrew withdrew from royal duties in 2020 after public backlash over a BBC interview in which he maintained that he didn’t regret his friendship with Epstein and said “the people that I met and the opportunities that I was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful.”
“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,” Buckingham Palace said.
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