Prince Andrew has agreed with the King to stop using his titles, including the Duke of York, saying he had “always put my duty to my family and country first”.-Report: The Telegraph.
The development, first revealed by The Telegraph, followed a string of new scandals concerning the Royal’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Prince Andrew said: “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.”
His decision to put all of his titles “in abeyance” was prompted by huge pressure from the King. The Prince will also give up his membership of the Order of the Garter. The Prince had also already agreed to put his HRH title in abeyance and his role as Counsellor of State is inactive as he is not a working member of the Royal family.
His ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, will also relinquish her title and will simply be known as Sarah Ferguson.
The decision was taken in close consultation with the King and the Prince of Wales, it is understood. The King was said to be “glad” at the outcome.
Prince William has long pushed for more decisive action against his uncle and was instrumental in persuading the late Queen to ensure he did not take part in the traditional Garter Day procession in 2022.
Earlier this month, he appeared to grimace as Prince Andrew stood alongside him, laughing and chatting following the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral.
Friday’s announcement, on Buckingham Palace headed paper, was titled: “A statement from Prince Andrew” as the change came in with immediate effect.
It would previously have been attributed to “the Duke of York”.
Palace aides stressed that he remains the son of Elizabeth II and that therefore the title of Prince will still be used, in accordance with Letters Patent issued in 1917 by George V which were updated by the late Queen in 2012.
The titles of his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are also unaffected.
Meanwhile, the Prince will continue to live at the family home, Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Palace efforts to force him out failed because of a watertight lease agreement with the Crown Estate that does not expire until 2078.
Both Prince Andrew and Ms Ferguson had already been told they were not welcome to join the family at Sandringham this Christmas.
The agreement was made following high level meetings at Buckingham Palace as aides finally reached “tipping point”.
After days of yet more revelations that threatened the reputation of the monarchy, the King was finally prepared to press the nuclear button.
Until now, the palace had resisted taking such punitive action but felt its hand had finally been forced.
Palace aides had become increasingly frustrated as the latest scandals involving the Prince overshadowed official royal engagements.
The last thing they wanted was the King and Queen’s high profile and historically significant visit to the Vatican next week being overshadowed by further damaging headlines.
Having decided to act, the King was adamant that what was essentially viewed as a “family distraction” did not waste parliamentary time. The priority was to ensure the Prince agreed to put his titles in abeyance and render his membership of the Order of the Garter inactive to ensure MPs did not need to be involved.
Aides are aware that there are likely to be more revelations to come concerning Prince Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, the late paedophile and financier.
The change in tack also came after The Telegraph revealed on Thursday that the Prince had held meetings with Cai Qi, the top Chinese official at the centre of the Beijing spy case, on at least three occasions from 2018 to 2019. He also invited him to Buckingham Palace for lunch in 2018.
Just days previously, leaked emails showed that Prince Andrew stayed in touch with Epstein longer than he had claimed, raising questions about what else he may have lied about.
He said in his Newsnight interview in 2019 that he had cut off contact with Epstein in December 2010. But just days after a photograph was published in 2011 showing Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, the late sex trafficking victim, he contacted Epstein to express concerns for his welfare, adding that they were “in this together”.
Mr Cai, who was at the heart of the collapsed spy case and one of the most senior members of the Chinese Communist Party, is a close ally of Xi Jinping, China’s president.
He is understood to be the final recipient of sensitive information allegedly passed to China by Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash, the two British nationals accused of spying for Beijing.
The revelations concerning his relationship with Prince Andrew emerged months after reports that Prince Andrew had forged a close friendship with Yang Tengbo, a suspected Chinese spy who inserted himself into the highest circles of the British establishment.
A High Court judge ruled that Mr Yang had formed an “unusual degree of trust” with the Prince, having been invited to the royal’s birthday party in 2020 and having helped set up the Chinese branch of Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace initiative.
Prince Andrew met Mr Cai at least three times in both London and Beijing during the time period when Mr Berry and Mr Cash are alleged to have been recruited by China for espionage.
Just days ago, royal aides were suggesting that they had done all they could to punish the errant Prince, with the removal of his titles considered a step too far, despite public support for the move.
Prince Andrew has already been stripped of his military titles and charity affiliations.
Andrew agreed to stop using his HRH title in January 2022
The move was not unprecedented, coming after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex agreed to put their own HRH titles in abeyance when they stepped back as working royals. Diana, Princess of Wales also lost her HRH title in her divorce from the future King.
When Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936, he became known as the Duke of Windsor.
The most recent example of royal Dukedoms being removed came during the First World War for nobles who chose to fight on the German side.
Prince Andrew was forced to step back from public duties in November 2019 in the wake of his disastrous Newsnight interview, during which he said he did not regret his friendship with Epstein and failed to express any sympathy for the convicted paedophile’s victims.
In the wake of a huge public backlash, Elizabeth II summoned the Duke to Buckingham Palace to effectively sack her second-born son from official duties.
Then, in January 2022, amid a hugely damaging sex abuse claim brought by Epstein sex-trafficking victim Giuffre, the late Queen moved again, stripping him of all military titles and patronages as she sought to protect the Royal family from the fallout of the case.
At the time, the Prince, who was accused of raping or abusing Giuffre on three separate occasions when she was 17, was facing a civil trial and was preparing to be grilled under oath.
The following month, he agreed to settle the case with no admission of liability and paid Giuffre around $12m. The late Queen, who is understood to have privately funded her son’s legal fight, agreed to partly fund the settlement in order to allow him – and the entire family – to draw a line under the case that had threatened to overshadow her Platinum Jubilee year.
Prince Andrew took flights aboard Epstein’s private jet on four occasions, documents released in the US show.
The prince is listed on flight logs as having flown from Luton to Edinburgh on September 1 2006, with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as on a flight on May 12 2000.
Two further flights from 1999 also displayed the name “Prince Andrew”, alongside royal protection officer Steve Burgess.
Documents released in the US on Friday night appeared to show that Epstein kept tabs on news stories suggesting Prince Andrew was at risk of being brought into the scandal.
A Sunday Times story headlined “Lawyers drag prince into underage sex scandal” was sent to Epstein in 2011.
In the article, it is claimed that a Russian model who worked with the King’s brother was questioned under oath about whether Prince Andrew was involved with underage girls.
She reportedly refused to answer. There is no suggestion that the Prince was involved in criminal activity with young girls.
Reacting to the Prince’s statement, Giuffre’s family said: “We, the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, believe that Prince Andrew’s decision to give up his titles is vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere. This decisive action is a powerful step forward in our fight to bring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking network to justice. Further, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to remove the title of Prince.
“This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained, ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.’”
Haley Robson, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, told the BBC the moment was “bittersweet”.
“I have moments of joyous tears,” Ms Robson told Newsnight. “I’m just flabbergasted that something finally broke and somebody is finally holding accountability.”
Ms Robson praised the King, stating: “This is why King Charles is king. He is showing the world, including America, what it looks like to have somebody held accountable.”
She added: “Thank you for standing up to the system, to the abusers.
“Thank you for putting your people first and making the people a priority.
“Thank you for doing what is long-awaited, what is appropriate, and for acting and doing the right thing.”