King Charles has stripped his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of his royal titles and his long-term residence on the Windsor estate, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement on Thursday.
The decision follows renewed public outrage over allegations made by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s principal accusers against the 65-year-old duke, who continues to deny all wrongdoing.
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles, and honours of Prince Andrew,” the statement read. “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.”
Andrew has also been instructed to vacate his long-time home on the grounds of Windsor Castle and will relocate to “alternative private accommodation.”
“These sanctions are considered necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace added.
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and deepest sympathies have been, and will remain, with the victims and survivors of all forms of abuse.”
The development comes just days after the release of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, in which the late victim of American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein repeated in graphic detail her claims that she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was only 17.
Although the prince denies the allegations, he agreed in 2022 to pay Giuffre, a dual US and Australian citizen, millions of dollars to settle her civil sexual assault case out of court.
Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41, while Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.