A lot of people were surprised when Prince Andrew announced he would no longer use his title and honors. The surprise came from the assumption that he didn’t come to this decision by himself, but got there after pressure from the King and perhaps even the heir to the throne. The thing, of course, is that King Charles had been very lenient with his brother until this happened.
But it seems even Charles has reached the end of his rope. RadarOnline.com is reporting the King would love for his brother to “just disappear” from public life as he feels he has “humiliated the family.” Reportedly, the King wants his brother to stop styling himself as Prince, not just give up his Duke of York title.
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“Charles has had enough,” a senior palace source said. “He’s at the end of his rope. His words about Andrew were, ‘Oh, just p— off,’ which tells you everything about where things stand. He sighed and looked absolutely exhausted. He wants Andrew to stop hiding behind his remaining titles and quietly remove himself from public life for good.”
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday, Oct. 17, Prince Andrew revealed he would no longer use his titles and honors. “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me,” he added.
This comes after The Times reported things between the brothers had reached “a tipping point” and that the king was considering stripping Prince Andrew of his title. Removing the title would have required an act of parliament, but at the time sources believed the move would have had both government and public support. The move by Charles against his brother is considered a “parting gift” for his son from a “dying” father, so he won’t have to deal with the problem himself.
Andrew made things easier by voluntarily giving up the title, and now the King expects him to go further and stop using Prince and disappear from public life completely. And, there are reports that both Charles and Prince William would love for him to vacate his home of Royal Lodge as well, though that might prove more complicated. For now, the exodus has already started, as Andrew and his ex Sarah Ferguson have not been invited to spend Christmas with the family at Sandringham.
The two have long been involved in a series of scandals involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and, in Andrew’s case, his close relationship with a Chinese official at the center of the Beijing spy case. Just recently, leaked emails showed Ferguson asking Epstein for forgiveness after publicly denouncing him. This cost her the patronage of numerous charities and proved to be, perhaps, the tipping point for a King who had tried to look the other way many times, but found that he was unable to continue doing it any longer.