In a decisive and unprecedented move, King Charles III has formally stripped his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of all royal titles and honours, ordering him to vacate his long-time Windsor residence, Royal Lodge.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the development on Thursday, marking the most significant disciplinary action against a senior royal in recent history.
According to the palace, the 65-year-old Duke of York will now be officially known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, effectively ending his royal status and privileges.
In a statement released Thursday, Buckingham Palace said:
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
The palace further disclosed that the UK government was consulted and gave its full support to the King’s decision.
Andrew has been issued a formal notice to vacate Royal Lodge, his Windsor residence of several decades. Plans are reportedly underway for his relocation to the royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk.
His former wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also move out and make separate living arrangements. The 66-year-old had continued living at Royal Lodge despite their 1996 divorce. Earlier in October, she too lost the title of Duchess of York following Andrew’s relinquishment of the Duke of York title, reverting to her maiden name, Sarah Ferguson.
Their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will however retain their royal titles. Buckingham Palace clarified that this is consistent with King George V’s 1917 Letters Patent, which grants such titles to the children of a son of a sovereign.
Royal historian and author Andrew Lownie, who recently released “The Rise and Fall of the House of York,” described the King’s move as “a huge humiliation” for the embattled royal.
“They’re finally getting ahead of the story, but this isn’t the end of it,” Lownie told the BBC.
“The Palace is finally taking some decisive action, but it won’t completely satisfy the public disquiet. He’s been very depressed about it all, even though he’s been defiant in public.”
The latest royal action comes amid renewed scrutiny of Andrew’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following the emergence of 2011 emails showing contact between them months after Andrew claimed to have severed ties.
Public outrage deepened after the release of a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who passed away earlier in 2025, in which she reiterated her long-standing allegations that she was forced to have sex with Andrew as a teenager — claims he has consistently denied.
In a statement issued Thursday, Giuffre’s family praised King Charles’s decision as “a measure of justice” for their late sister.
“Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” said her brother Skye Roberts and sister-in-law Amanda Roberts.
“Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and countless other survivors like her.
Today, she declares victory. We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Despite being stripped of his titles and ordered out of his royal residence, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Andrew remains eighth in line to the British throne, coming after the children of his younger brother, Prince Harry — Archie and Lilibet.
