Britain’s Prince Andrew will be formally stripped of his royal titles and will move out of his home in Windsor, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday, as the royal faces growing pressure over his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement that King Charles had “initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours” of his younger brother.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the palace said, an escalation of measures announced two weeks ago, when it said Andrew would stop using some of his titles, including Duke of York.
The palace stated that the “censorships are considered necessary, even though he continues to deny the allegations against him,” adding: “Their Majesties [King Charles and Queen Camilla] “We wish to make it clear that his thoughts and deepest condolences have been and will continue to be with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
The palace also said formal notice had been given for Andrew to leave his home at Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle.
Instead, Andrew will move to a property on the royal family’s private estate in Sandringham.
It comes after revelations that Andrew was paying rent of “one peppercorn (if required) per year” on the 30-bedroom mansion owned by the Crown Estate, despite retiring from public duties six years ago. The deal was revealed in a Freedom of Information request made by The Times newspaper last week.
The palace said: “His Royal Lodge tenancy has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. He has now been formally notified to give up the tenancy and will move to alternative private accommodation.”
The Royal Lodge was the home of Elizabeth, consort of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, from 1952 until her death in 2002.
Legal documents published by The Times, not verified by NBC News, indicated that Andrew paid £1 million for the lease when he moved into the property in 2004, also paying £7.5 million for renovation work. The palace and Andrew did not previously comment on the reports.
In a statement two weeks ago, Andrew cited “the continuing allegations about me” that “distract attention from the work of Her Majesty and the Royal Family.”
“As I said previously, I strongly deny the allegations against me,” Andrew said.
The storm has only intensified since then, with the publication last Monday of late Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s posthumous memoir detailing the allegations against Andrew.
Giuffre, who committed suicide in April, wrote that she had sex with the prince on three occasions, including an “orgy” involving “eight other young girls” who “appeared to be under 18 and did not actually speak English.”
Andrew reached a legal settlement with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount in February 2022 after she filed a civil case against him in a New York court accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17 years old. He has repeatedly denied ever knowing her and previously denied that a photograph of the two of them is real.
NBC News has reached out to Andrew for comment.
