King Charles removes Prince Andrew’s titles and expels him from the Royal Lodge

Britain’s Prince Andrew will have his royal titles formally stripped and leave his home in Windsor, Buckingham Palace said, as the prince faces mounting pressure over his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that King Charles “has begun a formal process to remove the titles, honors and honours” of his younger brother.

“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” the statement said, an escalation of measures announced two weeks ago, when the palace said Andrew would stop using some of his titles, including the Duke of York.

The statement notes that Andrew “continues to deny the accusations against him,” adding: “Your Majesties [King Charles and Queen Camilla] I would like to make it clear that their thoughts and deepest sympathy are and will continue to be with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.

The palace also said that Andrew has been given formal notice to leave his home at the Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle.

It comes after revelations that Andrew was paying rent worth “one peppercorn (if he asked) a year” for the 30-room mansion owned by the Crown Estate, despite stepping down from public duties six years ago. This arrangement was revealed in a freedom of information request by The Times newspaper last week.

The palace said: “His lease at Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue his residence. A formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”

The Royal Lodge was the home of Elizabeth, wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, from 1952 until her death in 2002.

Legal documents published by The Times, but not verified by NBC News, indicated that King Charles III’s younger brother paid £1 million for the lease when he moved into the property in 2004, and also paid £7.5 million for renovations. The palace and Prince Andrew have not previously commented on these reports.

In a statement issued two weeks ago, Andrew referred to the “ongoing accusations against me” which “distract attention from the work of His Majesty the King and the Royal Family.”

“As I said previously, I strongly deny the accusations against me,” Andrew said.

The storm has intensified since then, with late Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, detailing the allegations against Andrew, being published on Monday.

Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, wrote that she had sex with the prince on three occasions, including an “orgy” that included “eight other young girls” who “appear to be under 18 and don’t really speak English.”

Andrew reached a legal settlement with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount in February 2022 after she filed a civil suit against him in a New York court. He has repeatedly denied ever having met her and previously denied that a photo she took of them was real.