The former Prince Andrew has had an eventful 2025. Following renewed interest in his association with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was forced to give up all of his official royal titles. His brother, King Charles, also served an eviction notice on Andrew's home, Royal Lodge in Windsor. Now, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is facing even more "humiliation" as the holiday season approaches.
As reported by the Guardian, Andrew "is rounding off the year by becoming the punchline of the year's most popular Christmas cracker joke." The U&Gold competition, which takes place annually, invites funny submissions and asks members of the public to vote for the best entry. "It usually produces a topical winner that sends up one of the biggest stories of the year," the outlet explained.
Unfortunately for Andrew, 2025's winning joke—written by Ben Smith from Chelmsford in the U.K.—took aim at the former Duke of York: "Why is Prince Andrew not writing any Christmas books? He hasn't got any titles!" Smith won a prize that included approximately $2,000 in cash and a vacation, per the outlet.
As noted by the Express, the winning joke served as a "fresh humiliation" for Andrew.
As if becoming a punchline wasn't bad enough, Andrew was dealt a second "humiliation." According to the Sun, Andrew was "stripped of [his] last remaining military title and demoted in another embarrassing blow for [the] disgraced ex-prince."
As reported by the outlet, "The ex-Duke of York, 65, will no longer be allowed to call himself a vice-admiral after a meeting of the Defence Council demoted him to commander." Per the Sun, it was Andrew's "last prestigious title."
Speaking to the Sun, royal expert Ingrid Seward said of Andrew's demotion, "It is a huge blow because he thinks of himself as an armed forces man."
According to Seward, "[B]eing in the Navy has been the most stable thing in [Andrew's] life." As a result, the expert believes Andrew will "be very hurt by" the loss of his final military title.
"He might feel that enough is enough, and they're really digging at him now," Seward claimed. "This might hurt quite a lot more than some of the other things he's lost, because he will feel he has earned the right to the ranking." She continued, "He may well be bitter."
