UK trade minister Chris Bryant and senior opposition figures have welcomed King Charles’ decision to strip his brother Andrew of his titles as Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday he had already lost his peerages.
In a statement on Thursday, the palace cast the removal of the peerages, Andrew’s loss of his title as prince and the end of his lease on the 30-room Royal Lodge as “censures” following controversy over his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
On Friday, it confirmed that the removal of the peerages, including the title Duke of York, had already taken place, after the king sent royal warrants to lord chancellor David Lammy.
Mr Bryant told the BBC he was “delighted” about the king’s decision, which he said was “long overdue”, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also welcomed the step.
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Downing Street on Friday said the government “fully” supported the king’s action. Buckingham Palace had already made it clear the king had made the decision about Andrew in consultation with the government.
The palace’s statement on Thursday marked a sharp change of tone from its previous statement about Andrew, in which he was allowed to retain the title of prince and his lease of the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor.
There had been growing political and public demands for further action since the previous statement on October 17th.
A person close to the palace said it was clear that, while Andrew continued to deny the accusations against him, there had been “serious lapses of judgment” on his part.
The loss of the titles and home comes after publication of a posthumous memoir in which Virginia Giuffre, who said she met Andrew through Epstein, described how Andrew believed sex with her was his “birthright”.
She said they first had sex when she was only 17. Giuffre died by suicide in April.
Mr Bryant said: “I’m delighted. I’ve felt for a long time this was a necessary step and I’m glad that it’s happening now.”
Ms Badenoch told a phone-in on LBC Radio on Thursday that people expected the “highest levels of integrity” and that the public had “no truck” with any kind of sexual abuse or sexual offences. “I think that’s quite right,” she said.
Mr Davey wrote on X that the king was “absolutely right” to strip Andrew of both his titles and his residence in Royal Lodge.
“It’s clear that Andrew’s position had become totally untenable, having disgraced his office and embarrassed the country,” he added.
Thursday’s announcement followed almost two weeks of controversy about whether Andrew should continue to be known as a prince and retain the right to live in Royal Lodge, where he has lived rent-free since 2003 after paying an initial £8.5 million in upfront fees and for renovations.
The issue has proved a substantial embarrassment to King Charles, who became monarch after Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022.
Buckingham Palace’s statement read: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.”
Regarding Royal Lodge, it said Andrew’s lease on the mansion had provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. But it added: “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease 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 statement concluded: “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.”
Andrew has consistently denied even having met Giuffre.
The former prince would now move to a private property on the king’s privately held Sandringham estate in Norfolk, a person close to the palace indicated.
As well as the Duke of York title, Andrew has lost the titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh and several honours. That process was preferred to a legislative route, which would have taken up parliamentary time.
The House of Commons’ public accounts committee this week wrote to the Crown Estate, owner of Royal Lodge, demanding further details about how Andrew came to be awarded the 75-year lease over the property.
Under the terms of the lease, Andrew was due to be repaid about £500,000 in refurbishment costs in the event of termination of the lease before August 2028. It remains unclear whether he will receive that sum, although the palace indicated the costs of remedial work on the property might reduce what was owed.
In a statement, Giuffre’s family said she had “brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage”.
A public relations adviser working for Andrew did not respond to a request for comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
