Sources: BBC and The Associated Press
Prince Andrew said Friday he is giving up his royal title of the Duke of York and other honours after his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines.
The younger brother of King Charles III said he and the royal family had decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family,” Prince Andrew said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
The Associated Press’ London Bureau says these developments come as excerpts have been published of an upcoming posthumous memoir from Virginia Roberts Giufffre, who has alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.
Andrew, 65, stepped down from public life in 2019, but denied wrongdoing.
In a statement on Friday, he said that “with His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.
“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Giuffre died by suicide in April. In the memoir she details alleged encounters with Prince Andrew, who she sued in 2021, claiming that they had sex when she was 17. Andrew denied her claims and the two settled the lawsuit in 2022.
In its reporting, the BBC noted that Prince Andrew's loss of the use of his titles is taking immediate effect, and that he won't be spending Christmas with the Royal Family in Sandringham.
“But he is still expected to stay in his Windsor home, Royal Lodge, on which he has his own private lease which runs until 2078,’ the BBC report explained.
In addition, Prince Andrew's ex-wife will now be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer as Duchess of York.
“She had the use of the title after the divorce, but with Prince Andrew no longer using the title Duke of York she will cease to be known as a duchess,” the BBC report said, noting that Prince Andrew's children—Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie—will retain their titles,
The BBC also published the full text of the Prince’s statement:
"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. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
"With His Majesty's agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me."
