Prince William and Princess Kate have let it be known that they “fully support” King Charles’ decision to strip William’s disgraced uncle Andrew of his prince title and evict him from his 30-room home on royal property, as a way to contain the ongoing controversy about Andrew’s scandalous, longtime friendship with the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
This small window into the thinking of the Prince and Princess of Wales comes in a report from the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English, two days after it was revealed that the prince had threatened to remove the princess titles of Andrew’s daughters when he becomes king, unless Andrew agreed to leave Royal Lodge, the mansion that he and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, have long occupied near Windsor Castle.
WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 19:(Left to right) Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York attend the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Emily Maitlis, the former BBC anchor who famously grilled Andrew about his friendship with Epstein, revealed Tuesday that the heir to the throne had apparently met with his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and told them they needed to put pressure on their father and mother to move out of Royal Lodge, “otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles.”
Now it appears that William and his wife also may have been instrumental in getting his father to take even more decisive action against Andrew. A source told English about the couple’s role in the decision: “The process has been underway for some while but there was a need to get it right in the face of some very big challenges.”
But another factor that reportedly pushed Charles to act against Andrew was his “startling lack of contrition,” a situation that the king deemed “intolerable,” sources previously told the Daily Mail.
Andrew Lownie, who earlier this year published a book about Andrew and Sarah, “Entitled: The rise and fall of the House of York,” told the BBC that the palace is “finally taking some decisive action.” He also said that losing his prince title is a “huge humiliation” for Andrew. “He’s been very depressed about it all, even though he’s been defiant in public.”
In a bombshell statement released Thursday, Buckingham Palace said the king had begun the process to remove “the Style, Titles and Honors of Prince Andrew.” It explained that Andrew would now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and that he had been served with formal notice to surrender his lease on Royal Lodge and move elsewhere.
Demand had been growing on the palace to at least oust Andrew from Royal Lodge, where he was living rent free, after he surrendered his use of the Duke of York title earlier this month over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and allegations by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Rather scathingly, the palace statement said the censures against Andrew were “deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.” The statement furthermore referred to Epstein’s victims, saying that Charles and Queen Camilla “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.”
As for William’s reported threat against Beatrice and Eugenie, it appears to have had an effect on Andrew. Williams’ cousins will retain their princess titles, now that Andrew will be leaving Royal Lodge. For Andrew, it reportedly was “a key consideration in any negotiations and a small victory for him” that they retain their titles, the BBC reported.
Public outrage over Andrew had been intensifying in the weeks since emails were published, showing that he and his ex-wife, the self-described “happiest divorced couple in the world,” continued to stay friendly with Epstein, after both publicly said they had cut ties with him and stopped taking his money.
In one 2011 email, Epstein revealed that Sarah brought herself and Beatrice and Eugenie to visit him after his release from jail in Florida, where he was convicted in 2008 of one count of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The revelations about the emails also led to Sarah renouncing her Duchess of York title.
But the outrage over the couple only continued with the posthumous publication Giuffre’s memoir. She died by suicide earlier this year. In “Nobody’s Girl,” she amplified allegations that Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell had trafficked her to to Andrew in 2001. Giuffre called Andrew “entitled” and said he viewed having sex with her as his birthright. She accused Andrew of sexual assault in a lawsuit, which he Andrew settled in 2022 for millions of dollars while still denying the allegations.
The BBC reported that Andrew did not object to the king’s decision about his title, in large part because he didn’t have a choice in the matter. He is expected to leave Royal Lodge “as soon as practicable,” while Sarah also will move out and make her own living arrangements.
