Prince Andrew was given the prestigious title of the Duke of York by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, on the morning of his wedding.
It was a title for which the Queen had a great personal affection, being the one held by her beloved father, King George VI, before he acceded the throne.
Nearly 40 years on, Andrew has finally been forced to relinquish his dukedom – the highest rank in the British peerage – amid the long-running fallout of the Epstein scandal.
Andrew stepped down from public life in 2019. He then stopped using his HRH style and was stripped of his military patronages by the Queen.
But the King’s problem of what to do with his controversial younger brother has remained an ongoing problem.
Andrew continued to make appearances alongside the family at private gatherings and major public events, such as the King’s coronation and even recently standing next to the Prince of Wales following the Duchess of Kent’s funeral.
He hit the headlines before Christmas over his association with an alleged Chinese spy, and just days ago, again over his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein after it emerged he had told Epstein “we are in this together” in an email, three months after he said he had stopped contact with him.
The late Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times by Epstein after she was trafficked, wrote in her upcoming memoir that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.
Andrew announced in a statement on Friday evening via Buckingham Palace that he will “no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.
His titles and honours include: His wedding day titles – The Duke of York, the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh; His Knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO); His Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
He has stopped calling himself Duke of York and will no longer use the initials KG after his name in reference to his Garter knighthood.
Because he no longer acts as a Royal Knight of the Order of the Garter, this means Andrew will not be able to attend the traditional Order of the Garter service at Windsor Castle each June.
Garter Day sees Ladies and Knights of the Order of the Garter – the country’s oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry – process down the hill from the Berkshire castle’s State Apartments to St George’s Chapel, dressed in white plumed hats and dark blue velvet robes, watched by crowds of onlookers.
Andrew was already banned from taking part in the procession, but carried on attending the annual service behind closed doors.
He will no longer attend Christmas at Sandringham with the royal family, it has also been confirmed, which prevents him from strolling to church on Christmas Day, greeting well-wishers alongside the King, the Queen and the Waleses.
However, not all matters have been resolved.
While the title and honours have been relinquished, meaning Andrew will not use them, they have not been removed and they remain in existence.
Legislation would be required for Parliament to completely strip Andrew of the Duke of York title.
It is understood to be thought, in royal quarters, to be a waste of parliamentary time to bring an Act of Parliament to remove the dukedom entirely.
Meanwhile, Andrew still remains a prince.
When he was born in 1960, he was automatically a prince as the son of a monarch, and this could only be changed if a Letters Patent was issued by the King.
He is a counsellor of state, but this role is described as “inactive”.
Only “working members” of the royal family – not Andrew – would be called upon to carry out the sovereign’s duties on a temporary basis as a Counsellor of State in case of illness or overseas travel.
Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, remain unaffected and are still princesses, with both Andrew and the King thought to want to ensure they would retain their titles.
However, Andrew’s ex-wife will no longer use her divorcee courtesy title, Sarah, Duchess of York, and instead reverts to her maiden name, Sarah Ferguson.
Sarah, whose handle on X is @SarahTheDuchess, spent many years in the royal wilderness after a toe-sucking scandal and a cash-for-access debacle.
She was dropped by numerous charities last month when it emerged that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a “supreme friend”, despite publicly disowning him in the media.
And Sarah and Andrew still live in Royal Lodge, despite rumoured attempts by the King to encourage his brother to move.
The prince is said to have signed a 75-year lease on the Crown Estate property in Windsor Great Park in 2003.
