Prince Andrew has relinquished the use of several roles and titles on Friday, including his Duke of York title, after facing mounting pressure from King Charles due to a series of scandals.
Andrew was given the title of the Duke of York by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, on the morning of his wedding. It was a title for which the Queen had a great personal affection, being the one held by her beloved father, King George VI, before he acceded the throne.
Nearly 40 years on, Andrew has finally been forced to relinquish his dukedom - the highest rank in the British peerage - amid the long-running fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
While he will still be a prince, Andrew will no longer use his Duke of York title, but he will still retain his dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament.
He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. The honours will both remain in existence, but will not be used.
The disgraced prince will also no longer use his other subsidiary titles that were given to him on his wedding day - the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh.
In a statement today, he said: "I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
"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.”
It comes at the end of a week in which Andrew was at the centre of yet another series of scandals, which exposed further details about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
An extract of Virginia Giuffre's memoir was released on Wednesday, in which Ms Giuffre, who was the central figure in the downfall of Mr Epstein, laid out new details about the prince. She claimed that Andrew believed having sex with her was “his birthright.”
Prince Andrew has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Recent reports also revealed that Andrew met a senior Chinese Communist Party official at the heart of the China spy scandal, at least three times in 2018 and 2019.
Andrew has now relinquished the use of his last remaining titles and honours, other than being a prince. He first ceased some of his titles in 2022.
He stopped using the style of His Royal Highness (HRH) in an official capacity in January 2022, amid a civil case with Mrs Giuffre, which he eventually paid millions to settle.
All of Andrew’s military titles and royal patronages were also returned to his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, which is one of the highest infantry regiments in the British Army, and he lost most of his charity affiliations.
Often touted to be the Queen’s favourite child, he was stripped of more than 12 military titles in total, including overseas honorary titles such as colonel-in-chief of The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada, and colonel-in-chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment.
Andrew stepped down from public life in 2019 after a disastrous interview on Newsnight, in which he said he "did not regret" his friendship with Mr Epstein, who had trafficked Ms Giuffre.
He announced at the time he would be “stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future.”
Sarah Ferguson, his ex-wife, will also relinquish her title as the Duchess of York, while the titles of his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, will remain active.
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