King Charles strips Andrew of 'prince' title, residence: Buckingham Palace

London: King Charles III on Thursday stripped his disgraced brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Buckingham Palace said.

After the king’s rare move, which follows years of shameful scandals, he will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and not as a prince, and he will have to vacate his Royal Lodge mansion near Windsor Castle.

Friendship with Epstein

Demand had been growing on the palace to oust the prince from Royal Lodge after he surrendered his use of the title "Duke of York" earlier this month over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir hit bookstores last week.

These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.

But the king went even further to punish him for serious lapses of judgment by removing the title of "prince" that he has held since birth as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said. “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.”

Unprecedented

It is almost unprecedented for a British prince or princess to be stripped of that title.

It last happened in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus, who was a U.K. royal and also a prince of Hanover, had his British title removed for siding with Germany during World War I.

King Charles will strip his younger brother Andrew of his royal titles and long-term residence on the Windsor estate, the palace said in a statement on Thursday.

The announcement followed fresh outrage at accusations made by one of Jeffrey Epstein's main accusers against the 65-year-old, who has denied the charges.

"His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew," it said.

"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," it said.

Andrew has also been told to move out of his long-time home on Windsor Castle's sprawling grounds, and he will move "to alternative private accommodation."

"These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him," the palace said.

"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," the palace said.

It comes days after the publication of Virginia Giuffre's memoir, in which the victim of US sex offender Epstein reiterated in shocking detail allegations she had sex with Andrew three times, including when she was only 17.

The prince, who denies any wrongdoing, agreed to pay US and Australian citizen Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.

She took her own life in April, aged 41, while Epstein took his own life in 2019 in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.