On 30 October, after mounting pressure from the public, Buckingham Palace released a statement to confirm that Andrew, formerly known as Prince, has had all his royal titles stripped and will no longer be permitted to live in Royal Lodge in Windsor.
It is an unequivocal dismissal from royal life and a clear attempt to distance Andrew from the rest of the royal family. ‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,’ the statement reads. ‘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.’
The statement continued, ‘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.’
Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre speaks at a press conference following a hearing where Jeffrey Epstein victims made statements at Manhattan Federal Court on Aug. 27, 2019, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
What did Prince Andrew do?
While he has always maintained his innocence, in August 2021 Andrew was accused of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was forced to have sex with the then-prince on several occasions in the early 2000s when she was 17 years old. She claimed she had been sex trafficked by the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The following February, Giuffre and Andrew reached an out-of-court settlement, paid for in part by the late Queen Elizabeth, which meant the case did not go to trial.
However, Virginia died in April 2025 and six months later her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, was published containing harrowing details about the abuse she allegedly suffered as a teenager. In the book, Giuffre repeated her claims that she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including during an orgy. She also spoke about the significance of Andrew’s 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, which is largely responsible for the toppling of his reputation.
‘As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel,’ she wrote. ‘Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie.’
Giuffre also wrote about Andrew’s attempts to avoid being served her lawsuit. ‘The prince made it difficult for my lawyers to serve him papers, fleeing to Queen Elizabeth’s Balmoral Castle in Scotland and hiding behind its well-guarded gates.’ As for the settlement, she claimed she ‘agreed to a one-year gag order, which seemed important because it ensured that his mother’s Platinum Jubilee would not be tarnished’.
In further shocking allegations, the Metropolitan police are looking into claims that Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded close protection officer to uncover information about Giuffre hours before the emergence of the bombshell picture of them together, where Andrew’s hand is gripped around the 17-year-old Giuffre’s bare waist.
Giuffre’s brother has since called for Andrew to be put in prison. ‘He’s no longer a prince, and she would be… she is celebrating from the heavens right now, saying I did it.’ He continued, ‘It’s not enough. It’s not enough, we have to have some sort of investigation that goes further into this. I mean he’s still walking around a free man.
‘I commend the King, I think he’s doing an amazing job as a world leader, setting a precedent, but we need to take it one more step further: [Andrew] needs to be behind bars, period.’
Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
How old is Andrew?
Andrew is 65 years old. He is Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip’s second son and was born on 19 February 1960.
What will Andrew be called now?
From now on, Andrew will be called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He has lost all his royal titles including ‘Prince’, ‘Duke of York’, ‘Earl of Inverness’ and ‘Baron Killyleagh’. He no longer has the right to be called ‘His Royal Highness’ either. The honours of ‘Order of the Garter’ and ‘Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order’ have also been removed.
Where does the Mountbatten-Windsor name come from?
The name ‘Mountbatten-Windsor’ is a combination of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip’s surnames when they married. The royal family’s name is Windsor and Prince Phillip’s adopted surname was Mountbatten.
While Prince William, the Prince of Wales, often uses ‘Wales’ as his surname, he could also go by William Mountbatten-Windsor. Prince Harry is also Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and his children are Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, however they go by Sussex because Harry is also the Duke of Sussex.
Andrew and King Charles in 2012. (Photo: Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Where will Andrew live now?
Now that Andrew has been served notice on his lease at Royal Lodge, a sprawling 30-room mansion on a 99 acre-estate, it is understood that he will move to a property on the private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, to be privately funded by the King.
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who he continued to live with after their divorce, will also move out of Royal Lodge and will sort out her own living arrangements.
As for Andrew’s finances, he will receive a private provision from the king, with any other sources of income to be a matter of the former prince.
How will Andrew be funded?
According to Sky News, it’s likely that the late Queen will have done something to ‘support her son’. He will also have his pension from the Royal Navy, given that he served as an officer between 1979 and 2001 when he left that service and went into royal duties.
Is Andrew still on the official royal roll of the peerage?
No, Buckingham Palace has also confirmed Andrew has been removed from the official roll of the peerage, meaning he has lost his Duke of York title. Dukes are listed on the roll of the peerage maintained at the Crown Office and, as Lord Chancellor, David Lammy is responsible for maintaining the peerage roll.
Will Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s titles change?
No, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will still keep their titles. They will keep their Honours in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
It is understood that the sisters will also be welcome to join the gathering at Sandringham for Christmas and other royal family events.
Do Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie still speak to Andrew?
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are said to be ‘devastated’ by the fallout, according to royal correspondent Emily Andrews. ‘Particularly Eugenie, who co-founded The Anti- Slavery Collective, a charity that works to end modern slavery and the sex trafficking of women,’ Andrews told Grazia. ‘While Beatrice has been to visit her beleaguered parents, Eugenie has been conspicuous by her absence. Friends say neither daughter likes going to the Royal Lodge and the sisters pulled out of a glitzy society gala at the British Museum last week amid the controversy.’
Both sisters fled the UK before the recent announcement about Andrew’s role in royal life. Beatrice was pictured at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia two days prior to the news breaking, while Eugenie was pictured on a girls’ holiday in Paris.
Will Andrew still be invited to royal events?
Sky News royal commentator Alastair Bruce said Andrew is ‘still part of the family’ and is likely to attend weddings, funerals and other big events. However, he is unlikely to be seen in public. ‘I think what we won’t see is Andrew Mountbatten Windsor using the main door of churches when there is public interest in the attendance of members of the Royal Family,’ he said. ‘I think he will come in and leave those events privately.’
That could all change however once William becomes King. ‘The Prince of Wales has, for as long as I can remember, been hardline about his uncle,’ Andrews explains. ‘He views the reputational damage of Andrew’s friendship with a convicted paedophile as unforgivable and is more ruthless than his father at protecting The Firm. In an interview with Eugene Levy’s The Reluctant Traveller show, he makes it clear that ‘change’ is coming as he sets out his stall to modernise the monarchy.
‘The ostentatious costumes, the outdated titles and servile attitudes of the past look to be overthrown and in William’s 21st century “slimmed down” monarchy there is no room for out-of-date princes. He pushed for Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to give up their palatial home. He has also let it be known Andrew will not be invited to William’s future coronation. It’s expected that as King, William will issue new letters patent to restrict the use of prince and princess titles to the monarch’s children and through the heir’s line, at a stroke potentially removing Harry’s royal prefixes too.’
Nikki Peach is a senior writer at Grazia, working across news, entertainment, features. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).
