Buckingham Palace says Britain’s King Charles III has begun the “formal” process to strip Prince Andrew of remaining titles and evict him from the royal residence, the Royal Lodge.
He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles and the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has faced mounting pressure over his behavior and ties to US sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this month, he was forced to stop using his title, Duke of York.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said.
Giuffre’s Epstein book connects to Andrew
The announcement followed fresh outrage over accusations made against him by one of Epstein’s main accusers.
Virgina Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, “Nobody’s Girl,” went on sale in the United Kingdom last week. In it she said she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions.
The first time when she was only 17, saying the prince correctly guessed her age and commented on her being about the same age as his children.
She said it happened at the London home of Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell who she says facilitated her introduction to Andrew.
Giuffre’s ordeal at the hands of the Epsteins became best known for this photo seemingly showing her with Prince Andrew, with Epstein’s wife Ghislaine Maxwell in the background (undated handout photo released by US authorities in 2021)Image: US Department of Justice/PA Wire/picture alliance
Andrew continues to deny claims of sexual abuse made by Giuffre, even after renouncing his official titles.
Giuffre, died by suicide in April.
Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges. He had previously served time for child sex offenses. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years for helping him abuse teenage girls.
More to follow…
