Britain’s King Charles has begun the formal process of revoking Prince Andrew’s titles and honors. Buckingham Palace announced this on Thursday, writes the BBC. “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the British royal family said in a statement. Charles’ controversial brother also has to leave his home in Windsor. That building is located on British state territory.
Two weeks ago, Andrew announced that he would give up his royal titles, including that of Duke of York. The immediate cause was the publication of new facts about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It showed that Andrew had not broken off contact with Epstein in 2010, as he previously said, but was still in contact with him at least until 2011. Also came The Guardian most recently with a pre-publication of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, which describes the sex she had with Andrew as a minor.
Although Andrew voluntarily gave up his titles, according to British media, he did so under considerable pressure from those close to him. The royal family had been fed up with Andrew for years, due to repeated negative news about the prince. A statement from Andrew states that he came to his decision “in consultation with the king”. Charles previously said he was pleased that Andrew was giving up his titles, writing in the statement released on Thursday that his “thoughts and deepest condolences are and will remain with the victims and survivors of all forms of abuse.”
Move to private estate
Charles also writes that the termination of his brother’s rental agreement is necessary because Andrew “continues to deny the allegations against him.” He is now moving to a home on Charles’ private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, on the east coast of the UK. The forced move seems mainly symbolic: his new rent is financed by King Charles. According to the BBC, Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, is also leaving Royal Lodge in Windsor. She continued to live there despite the divorce in 1996.
The news about Andrew began to damage the British royal family more and more. This was recently published research from research agency YouGov that the negative view of the royal family increased by 4 percent due to the new facts about Andrew’s ties with Epstein. 91 percent of British people now have a negative opinion of Andrew.
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Prince Andrew hoped to calm the fuss by handing in his titles, but the British media are not done with him yet
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