Andrew’s fib the last straw for royally peeved Windsors
This was too much of a scandal.
After emails emerged this week showing that Prince Andrew had been in contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for longer than he had previously admitted, the House of Windsor has finally moved to insulate the monarchy from years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s dodgy friends and questionable business dealings.
Buckingham Palace released a statement from Prince Andrew on Friday saying he had agreed to relinquish the use of his last remaining royal titles so that the ongoing allegations against him “do not detract from Her Majesty’s work”.
Craig Prescott, an expert on monarchy and constitutional law at Royal Holloway University in London, said this week’s statements show that Prince Andrew has committed the unforgivable sin of misleading the British public.
“I think saying something that has been proven to be untrue is the final straw,” he said.
The move comes as King Charles, 76 and undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, works to ensure the long-term stability of the monarchy under his son and heir Prince William.
Prince William recently gave an interview in which he laid out his vision for the monarchy, saying the institution must change to ensure it is a force for good.
“In some ways, Prince Andrew has been the exact opposite of that,” Prescott said. “And there is no room for that in a modern monarchy.”
Prince Andrew, 65, was married to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth’s second son. He served as an officer in the Royal Navy for more than 20 years before leaving to take up royal duties in 2001.
Following Friday’s announcement, Prince Andrew will no longer use his remaining royal titles, including Duke of York, although he technically retains them. Officially stripping him of these titles would be a time-consuming process requiring an act of parliament.
His exile completed a process that began in November 2019, during which he gave up all public duties and charitable work.
This was triggered by a disastrous interview he gave to the BBC as he sought to counter media reports about his friendship with Epstein and denied allegations that he had sex with 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, a girl trafficked by Epstein in 2001.
The prince has been widely criticized for his lack of empathy for Epstein’s victims and for making unbelievable statements about his friendship with the disgraced financier.
The interview also sowed the seeds of this week’s uproar when Prince Andrew told the BBC he had cut off contact with Epstein in December 2010.
On Sunday, British newspapers revealed that she had written an email to Epstein on February 28, 2011. Prince Andrew wrote the note following renewed news about the Epstein scandal, telling her they were “in this together” and “they need to get through this.”
Prince Andrew has recently been hit with another set of sordid stories as newspapers publish extracts from Giuffre’s memoirs, which will be published on Tuesday after her death. Giuffre died by her own hand in April at the age of 41.
Prince Andrew settled out of court in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against him in New York. Although he did not admit wrongdoing, he acknowledged that Giuffre had suffered as a victim of sex trafficking.
The prince has been the subject of tabloid reports dating back to at least 2007, when he sold his home near Windsor Castle for 20 percent above the 15 million pound ($31 million) asking price.
The buyer was reported to be Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of then-Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev, raising concerns that the deal was an attempt to buy influence in Britain.
In 2024, a court case revealed Prince Andrew’s relationship with a businessman and suspected Chinese spy who was banned from entering the UK on the grounds that he posed a threat to national security. Authorities were concerned the man might have abused his influence with Prince Andrew, according to court documents.
While the palace said Andrew had decided to give up his royal titles, royal commentator Jennie Bond said King Charles and Prince William were putting “enormous pressure” on him.
“We could say he fell on his sword, but I think he was pushed into it,” Bond told the BBC. “I don’t think this is a decision that Andrew, who is a very arrogant and very status-conscious man, would make willingly without a lot of pressure.”
While the sheer gravity of Prince Andrew’s scandals requires a response from the royal family, this week’s revelations come at a particularly sensitive time for the king as he prepares for an official visit to the Vatican, where he is expected to pray alongside Pope Leo XIV.
George Gross, an expert on theology and monarchy at King’s College London, said this visit was very important for King Charles, who made building bridges between faiths an important part of his “mantra”.
“I think this is the quickest, really quickest way to further lower his status without having to go to parliament,” Gross said. “Even if parliament approves it, it will take time.”
King Charles may also have been motivated by a desire to preserve the work of Queen Camilla, who has made tackling domestic violence one of her signature topics, and the Duchess of Edinburgh, who has tried to combat sexual violence in war zones such as the Congo.
Prescott said King Charles would hope this move would eventually draw a line between Prince Andrew and the rest of the royal family.
“If there are allegations or other things come to light, everything will fall on Prince Andrew,” he said. “They severed the link between Prince Andrew and the monarchy as an institution.”
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