Prince Andrew will be formally stripped of his royal style, titles, and honours and will move out of Royal Lodge, it was announced last night. The disgraced royal will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and he will soon relocate to a private property on the Sandringham Estate. His name has changed with immediate effect.
Buckingham Palace announced that the King has set the wheels in motion today, and said in a statement: “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties 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.” It’s a major development and comes after weeks of negative headlines and scandals embroiling Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Earlier this month, Andrew relinquished use of his Duke of York title – but now the King has taken action to formally remove the dukedom, rather than leave it in abeyance.
The decision not to use his titles and honours was understood to be “the most immediate and efficent” move at the time, with other options requiring legal and constitutional expertise, as well as support from the wider family.
It is understood that the King had hoped not to need to take formal action, as he was concerned it would be a waste of Parliamentary time.
But it was deemed that further action was necessary, and the King has sent Royal Warrants to the Lord Chancellor to secure the removal of the Dukedom of York from the Peerage Roll, and the Title of Prince and Style of ‘Royal Highness’.
A royal source said: “These decisions have been the King’s, given the serious lapses of judgment which his brother has shown.”
The removal process applies to The Prince’s titles of Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and the style ‘His Royal Highness’. The honours affected are Prince Andrew’s Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order.
While Charles has initiated the process, in consultation with the Government, and Andrew has not objected to the action.
His two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will retain their titles in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
Andrew, as the leaseholder of Royal Lodge, has served notice to surrender the leave and he will move out as soon as practicable. He will relocate to a property on the private Sandringham Estate. Buckingham Palace has not revealed which house he will move to, but Andrew’s housing arrangements will be privately funded by the King. Sarah Ferguson will make her own arrangements.
Andrew and his ex-wife have lived at Royal Lodge for over two decades, but the optics of the disgraced royal living in the grandeur of the 30-room mansion has led to mounting pressure for him to leave the property.
But as Andrew signed a water-tight lease with the Crown Estate, it wasn’t simply a case of the King evicting him from the Grade II listed building. Charles had hoped to force his hand last year by cutting off his funding, but Andrew continues to fund the costly maintenance costs that are required to uphold his lease, which lasts until 2078.
However, there has been widespread public outrage after it emerged Andrew had been living there rent-free since 2003. And MPs have piled the pressure on this week, with Parliament’s spending watchdog raising concerns over the value for money of Andrew’s living arrangements.
The Public Accounts Committee wrote to the Treasury and the Crown Estate asking them to explain the rationale behind the lease on the 30-room mansion by November 28.
The King was heckled on a royal engagement earlier this week, and polling showed that the public was in favour of the monarch taking formal action to strip his brother of his royal titles.
Last night’s decision comes after weeks of tense negotiations between Andrew, the Palace, the King and the wider family. Andrew knew his time at Royal Lodge was up, but he had been hoping to remain on the Windsor Estate. Reports on the weekend also suggested that his ex-wife had demanded her own property, but the Palace machine appears to have shut down any posturing in an attempt to bring the sorry saga to a close.