Prince Andrew stripped of titles and should give up lease to Royal Lodge in Windsor

Prince Andrew is being stripped of his titles and should give up his lease to Royal Lodge, the mansion in Windsor the place he lives, in response to a press release from Buckingham Palace.

“Prince Andrew will now be generally known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the assertion mentioned. “Formal discover has now been served to give up the lease and he’ll transfer to different personal lodging.” 

Andrew had not too long ago mentioned he would cease utilizing his royal titles and honors, together with the Duke of York, however Thursday’s assertion on behalf of King Charles III and Queen Camilla initiated the formal technique of revoking all his titles, together with prince.

“These censures are deemed needed, however the truth that he continues to disclaim the allegations towards him,” the assertion mentioned.

Andrew has come below intense scrutiny over his friendship with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein and accusations from Virginia Giuffre that she was trafficked to interact in intercourse with the prince whereas she was underage. Andrew has denied the allegations. He reached a settlement with Giuffre in 2022. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this yr. 

“Their Majesties want to clarify that their ideas and utmost sympathies have been, and can stay with, the victims and survivors of any and all types of abuse,” the assertion mentioned. 

In a memoir printed posthumously, Giuffre detailed her alleged encounters with Andrew.

“He was pleasant sufficient, however nonetheless entitled — as if he believed having intercourse with me was his birthright,” she wrote. “The following morning, [Ghislaine] Maxwell advised me: ‘You probably did effectively. The prince had enjoyable.’ Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the person the tabloids referred to as ‘Randy Andy.'”

In 2022, Andrew gave up his army affiliations, royal patronages and official public duties. He additionally stopped utilizing the title “His Royal Highness.”

Andrew had confronted heavy criticism from the British public over his dwelling preparations, with many voicing concern that he continued to reside in his mansion on a royal property regardless of the accusations leveled towards him and his retreat from royal duties.

His 75-year lease for Royal Lodge, signed in 2003, included an up-front fee of round 8 million kilos (round $10.5 million) and an annual hire described as a “peppercorn,” which means a particularly small quantity, in response to CBS Information’ accomplice community BBC Information. A part of that fee was for renovations to the property, which on the time was in a state of disrepair, and Buckingham Palace felt that having Andrew pay the associated fee to improve the property was higher than utilizing public funds, BBC reported.

The lease had beforehand been known as “forged iron,” and Buckingham Palace mentioned it wanted to barter with Andrew with a purpose to take away him, however didn’t present additional details about the main points of these negotiations.

Buckingham Palace mentioned Andrew will transfer out of the residence as quickly as potential and can transfer to a property on the Sandringham property, positioned about 100 miles north of London.