Prince Andrew has stopped using his remaining titles and honours and will no longer be known as the Duke of York, in a move which finally completes his banishment from royal life.
The dramatic development in the long-running debacle comes after a fresh wave of controversy over the Epstein scandal, and the furore over his contact with an alleged Chinese spy.
Andrew made the decision in close consultation with both the King and the Prince of Wales, with the monarch said to be “glad” at the outcome.
Charles has been facing the ongoing problem of what to do with his disgraced younger brother since the start of his reign, and heir to the throne William is always believed to have wanted to take a decisive line on the matter.
It is believed to be the first time a senior royal has stopped using a dukedom for more than 100 years, since Queen Victoria’s grandson, the Duke of Albany, was stripped of his title under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 for fighting on the German side during the First World War.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Andrew said: “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.”
He added, after referencing his decision to step down from public life more than five years ago: “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.”
And he insisted: “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.”
Andrew will remain a prince, which he has been entitled to since birth, and is still eighth in line of succession, and the change will not affect his daughters, who will remain Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Sarah Ferguson, who split from the duke more than 30 years ago but remained one of his greatest supporters and still shares his Royal Lodge home, will, however, revert to her maiden name of Ferguson, losing her courtesy royal divorcee title Sarah, Duchess of York.
It was also confirmed that Andrew will no longer join the King and the rest of the royal family at Christmas at Sandringham, which prevents him from strolling to church on Christmas Day in full public view, greeting wellwishers.
And he will no longer act as a Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, meaning he will not be able to take part in the annual Garter service inside Windsor Castle each June, having previously been banned from the outdoor procession.
He will also not be able to wear the Garter robes he was seen in at Charles’s coronation.
The move further shunts Andrew into the royal wilderness – and removes opportunity for him to be seen publicly alongside the King, William and the rest of the royal family.
The statement was released on Friday evening, just four days before the publication of a memoir by Andrew’s late alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, to whom he paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case despite claiming never to have met her.
And the same evening, Andrew appeared in the latest document dump from paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, published by the US House Oversight Committee.
It showed “Prince Andrew” listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet – the so-called Lolita Express – from Luton to Edinburgh in 2006, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell, and on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.
The prince stepped down from public life in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview in which he said he “did not regret” his friendship with Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.
He went on to stop using his HRH style and was stripped of his military patronages by the Queen.
Ms Giuffre, who died aged 41 in April, claimed she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17, after she was trafficked by Epstein.
She said in her memoir that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.
And just days ago, it emerged Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together” in an email, three months after he said he had stopped contact with the convicted sex offender.
Andrew also used his statement to insist claims against him were untrue, saying: “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Although Andrew is relinquishing his dukedom, he still technically retains it – and it can only be removed by an Act of Parliament.
The titles and honours he will no longer use include his wedding day titles – The Duke of York, the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh; his Knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO); his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Ms Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said: “We’ve shed a lot of happy and sad tears today. I think happy because in a lot of ways this vindicates Virginia.
“She was a truth teller from the beginning.”
Mr Roberts added he would “welcome” contact with UK Parliament or the King, offering to “present the evidence that we believe is available to continue her voice”.
In an interview with BBC Panorama, Ms Giuffre described Andrew as “the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life” and “his sweat was … raining basically everywhere”.
The duke has insisted he has no memory of a well-known photograph of him with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house
There have been repeated calls for him to give up his dukedom, which tied him to the city of York and which he received from his mother on the morning of his wedding in 1986.
City of York councillor Darryl Smalley, who proposed a successful motion to the council to remove Andrew’s freedom of the city status and campaigned for the prince to be stripped of his dukedom, said: “It’s obviously a long time coming, but finally they recognised what a massive liability he is.”
Andrew hit the headlines in December after a High Court hearing revealed alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a “close” confidant of Andrew.
Sarah, meanwhile, was dropped by numerous charities last month when it emerged that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a “supreme friend”, despite publicly disowning him in the media.
