King Charles is reportedly considering stripping Prince Andrew of his title as the Duke of York after the palace reached a “tipping point” with him over a string of scandals.
The King is “considering all options”, a royal source told The Times, with one option being to remove Andrew from dukedom. Another option would be to banish him from the Order of the Garter.
The move would require an act of parliament, but would likely receive government and public support if it had the King’s backing, according to the newspaper, but it is hoped that Andrew would voluntarily give up the title before being forced.
The royal household’s “concern” and “anxiety” around the Duke stem from recent revelations around his connections to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and to a senior Chinese Communist Party official at the heart of the China spy case scandal.
Prince Andrew held meetings in 2018 and 2019 with Cai Qi, currently the first-ranked member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) and de facto chief of staff to Xi Jinping. Mr Cai was suspected of being the recipient of sensitive information allegedly passed to China by two British nationals accused of spying for Beijing.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped charges against suspected spies Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash last month, citing a lack of evidence; both have denied any wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew met the senior CCP figure at least three times, according to The Telegraph, in both London and Beijing during the time period when Mr Berry and Mr Cash were allegedly recruited for espionage.
Meanwhile, an extract from the posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, published on Wednesday by The Guardian, alleged that she had three separate encounters with the Prince. Ms Giuffre settled a sexual assault lawsuit against the Duke of York, who has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing, in February 2022. Ms Giuffre died earlier this year.
Ms Giuffre described the prince in the book, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir Of Surviving Abuse And Fighting For Justice, as “friendly enough, but entitled” as she had sex with him on various occasions, including while staying at the house of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, near Hyde Park, London, in March 2001.
The extract states: “Maxwell woke me up that morning by announcing in a sing-songy voice: ‘Get out of bed, sleepyhead!’ It was going to be a special day, she said. Just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!”
Removal of Andrew’s dukedom could be well received publicly, as a YouGov poll this summer showing 67 per cent of people favoured of stripping him of the title. The process could take up parliamentary time with procedural difficulties, according to The Times, who cited a source hoping that he might act with “honour” and give up his titles voluntarily.
This would be the strongest line the palace has taken with the Prince since the late Queen stripped him of his royal role in 2019.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
