Prince Andrew will relinquish the use of his royal titles including Duke of York after discussing the matter with King Charles, Andrew announced on Friday.
“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,” Prince Andrew said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
Prince Andrew has faced mounting pressure over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his links to an alleged Chinese spy.
The prince repeated that he “vigorously” denies the accusations against him.
Andrew stepped down from public life in 2019 after an widely-critcized interview with the BBC over his relationship with Epstein.
“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,” Andrew said on Friday.
Andrew’s much-publicized troubles began after he faced a 2015 sexual abuse lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre alleged Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends in 2001, including Prince Andrew, and that he was aware she was underage in the US at the time.
Giuffre also alleged Andrew sexually abused her at Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.”
Amid the lawsuit, Andrew was stripped of his military titles and positions on several charities.
Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations.
In 2022, Prince Andrew and Giuffre reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.
The more than decade-long friendship between Prince Andrew and Epstein ended in 2011, when Epstein threatened legal action against Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
Prince Andrew has also faced intense scrutiny over his links to an alleged Chinese spy.
Court documents revealed the extent of Andrew’s relationship with Yang Tengbo, who reportedly forged close ties with the prince.
In a tribunal hearing in December 2024 that upheld an earlier decision to bar Yang from the UK, it was revealed that Yang was authorized to act on Prince Andrew’s behalf during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in the UK.
Throughout a government investigation into the relationship, Yang has denied any wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew will remain a prince, as he was born the son of Elizabeth II. (CNN)
