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Just as Andrew had claimed in his Newsnight interview in 2019 that he had been \u201ctoo honourable\u201d to break off his close friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> by phone, so again he tried, in 103 words printed under a royal coat of arms, to depict himself as a man of honour. \u201cI have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first,\u201d the statement said. Most people who know Andrew, and much of the public, think that \u201chonour\u201d has been missing in action since his service in the Falklands in 1982.<\/p>\n \u2022 Prince Andrew forced to renounce Duke of York title<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Some will see the announcement as a decisive move by the King to draw a line under the murky sex scandal engulfing the prince\u2019s friendship with Epstein, a convicted paedophile, and allegations \u2014 which the prince denies \u2014 of having had sex three times with Virginia Giuffre when she was 17.<\/p>\n When Andrew stepped back from public life after Newsnight, the royal family hoped the scandal would fade away. It didn\u2019t. In February 2022, when Andrew agreed a multimillion-pound settlement with Giuffre \u2014 part-funded by his mother, Elizabeth II, and Charles, admitting no liability but prompting the Queen to remove his HRH styling and his military titles and patronages \u2014 the family again hoped that it would all be done and dusted. It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Now Charles, 76, an embattled King who is still having weekly treatment for cancer and navigating endless family dramas, hopes this knuckle-rap for Andrew will be the end of it. It won\u2019t. Why? Because with the publication of Giuffre\u2019s posthumous memoir, and many more details expected to emerge from the \u201cEpstein files\u201d in the US, the drip, drip, drip of scandal will keep coming.<\/p>\n Nothing has really changed for Andrew, who, according to visitors to Royal Lodge, spends much of his time playing video games. He is still a technically a duke \u2014 only an act of parliament would strip him of that title. He is still technically an HRH, a Knight of the Garter, the highest order of British chivalry, and he is still the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. In palace-speak, his titles are \u201cin abeyance\u201d and \u201cextant but inactive\u201d \u2014 a bit like Andrew, who will continue to live at Royal Lodge, his sprawling mansion on the Windsor estate that he shares with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.<\/p>\n Ferguson can no longer call herself the Duchess of York, but has already been known for decades as \u201cFergie.\u201d Andrew, 65, has a private lease arrangement with the crown estate until 2078, so Charles can\u2019t kick him out of Royal Lodge, despite having tried for years. What remains a mystery is how Andrew manages to pay the rent and cover the maintenance of the house. <\/p>\n \u2022 How Prince William will change the monarchy, by those close to him<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n As Andrew\u2019s dukedom hung in the balance last week, courtiers pointed out that he was still a prince, having been born the son of a monarch, and that, to many, \u201cprince\u201d sounded more regal than \u201cduke\u201d. Bluntly, as the comedian Munya Chawawa said: \u201cA privileged man becomes slightly less privileged.\u201d <\/p>\n Could Elizabeth have nipped this in the bud if she had been firmer six years ago, and stripped him of all his titles in 2019? Perhaps. But as one of her courtiers says, she couldn\u2019t bring herself to do it. \u201cIt is very hard for a mother to humiliate her son \u2014 far easier for a brother to do it. That story is as old as the Bible.\u201d <\/p>\n Some will see Andrew\u2019s further demotion as a sign of strength in Charles, who is said to have considered the exposure of his brother\u2019s lie, that he had broken off contact with Epstein in 2010, a tipping point. A grim email published this month, sent by Andrew to Epstein in 2011 and telling the financier that they would \u201cplay some more soon\u201d, has raised questions about what else Andrew might have lied about. The email was sent the day after the infamous photograph was published of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre<\/a>. Others will see the latest development as a royal fudge, the empty gesture of another monarch showing their weak spot with an errant, embarrassing relative.<\/p>\n Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell<\/p>\n US DISTRICT COURT\/SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n The next monarch will be more ruthless. Buckingham Palace says the Prince of Wales<\/a> was \u201cconsulted\u201d on the decision, but it is understood that he is not satisfied with the outcome and knows the \u201cAndrew problem\u201d will be in his in-tray at some point. When William is King, Andrew will be banned from all elements of royal life. He will excluded from public and private royal events, including the coronation, and banned from most state occasions.<\/p>\n \u2022 King tells Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to miss royal Christmas<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Since Charles\u2019s accession, despite ongoing scandal, Andrew has been allowed to attend \u201cfamily occasions\u201d with senior royals, including Christmas at Sandringham in 2022 and 2023 \u2014 latterly with Ferguson \u2014 as well as Easter services at St George\u2019s Chapel, Windsor and the Duchess of Kent\u2019s funeral at Westminster Cathedral last month. William, 43, considers his uncle a \u201cthreat\u201d and a reputational risk to the monarchy, and is understood to be concerned about the message Andrew\u2019s presence at royal events sends to victims of sexual abuse. In April, Giuffre took her own life in Australia, aged 41.<\/p>\n Kensington Palace declined to comment. <\/p>\n It is understood that William will also ban Ferguson from royal events. In an interview in March 2011, she said she had made a \u201cterrible, terrible error of judgment\u201d in accepting \u00a315,000 from Epstein to pay off debts, and added: \u201cI abhor paedophilia.\u201d But it was revealed last month that she had subsequently sent an email to Epstein apologising for publicly criticising him, calling him her \u201csteadfast, generous and supreme friend\u201d.<\/p>\n Sarah Ferguson will no longer be invited to royal events<\/p>\n MAX MUMBY\/INDIGO\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Ferguson has said of her unconventional arrangement with Andrew: \u201cWe are the most contented divorced couple in the world.\u201d A former courtier who knows them both well says: \u201cShe can be naive but has a decent heart. He\u2019s stupid without one [a heart].\u201d No scandal seems to weaken their bond, and losing their titles is another humiliation they will bear together. William remains close to their daughters, his cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, whose titles and status are unaffected, and will continue to include them in family and official events. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely in uncharted territory for royal scandals,\u201d says a seasoned former courtier, who weathered a few. How did the monarchy get here? The reality is that neither Andrew nor the royal family found anything useful for him to do after he left the navy in 2001 that didn\u2019t put him in the path of dodgy despots and alleged Chinese spies. Vast sums of taxpayers\u2019 money was spent jetting \u201cAirmiles Andy\u201d around the world for a decade in his role as the UK\u2019s \u201cspecial representative\u201d for trade and investment, another title he was forced to relinquish in 2011 as concerns grew about his friendship with Epstein. The writing should have been on the wall for the royal family then, and the rogue \u201cspare\u201d should have been stopped in his tracks.<\/p>\n \u2022 A timeline of Prince Andrew\u2019s scandals \u2014 from Jeffrey Epstein to spy case<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n He sailed on, however, so the Andrew problem has blighted two reigns and threatens to indelibly stain the Carolean era, just as it clouded the final years of the Elizabethan age. There is now the risk that the scandals surrounding Andrew, and the fallout from the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes\u2019 departure from royal life, have had more impact on the public consciousness than Charles\u2019s laudable work on the environment, social equality, community cohesion and interfaith relations.<\/p>\n The King, who did not see his brother last week while the statement was being drawn up (exerting pressure instead on the phone), acted in the hope of a quick solution. He did not want to take up the government\u2019s time, as the required act of parliament would to formally strip Andrew of his titles.<\/p>\n Above all, Charles hopes it will refocus minds on the work of his family. On Friday, William visited the London Ambulance Service to mark its 60th anniversary, and on Wednesday Charles<\/a> hosted indigenous leaders at St James\u2019s Palace. But Andrew stole the headlines, and will continue to do so \u2014 a frustration for the King and his heir.<\/p>\n \u2022 Andrew Lownie: Secrecy has shrouded the royals for too long<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA clear line has been drawn so hopefully we can move on,\u201d said a source close to Charles, who will become the first monarch to pray with a Pope since the Reformation when he visits the Vatican this week. <\/p>\n Others in royal circles are more realistic. \u201cIt has clouded everything,\u201d another source said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that people see the work of the wider family, but at the moment, this is still a huge distraction. The King is about to do one of his most important state visits to the Holy See, but it comes against this backdrop and it\u2019s very difficult for him.\u201d<\/p>\n The monarchy has weathered plenty of storms in recent years and a friend of the royal family believes it will battle through this latest torrent. \u201cIt\u2019s clearly damaging, embarrassing and distasteful,\u201d they said. \u201cBut the King, the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Anne<\/a>, Edward and Sophie are all still fulfilling their roles. They have public support and the institution will remain a central part of British life.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/\/190c1458-8ddc-4f82-94b6-87d4a5b729d3.jpg\")
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