Prince Andrew has officially stepped back from several of his royal titles following mounting pressure over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The decision comes after fresh revelations, including flight logs, emails, and excerpts from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, put the spotlight back on the embattled prince.
Titles he will be giving up
In a statement released Friday, Andrew said, “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. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. 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. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
The titles Andrew will give up include Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh, as well as his honors as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
Technically, the dukedom cannot be removed without an Act of Parliament, but he has pledged not to use it.
Despite these changes, Andrew will still retain the title of Prince — because he is the son of Queen Elizabeth II — a designation that cannot be revoked without extraordinary constitutional steps.
Andrew accusations
His former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, will also stop using her title and will be known simply as Sarah Ferguson, though their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, remain unaffected.
The decision comes as Giuffre’s family called for Andrew to be held accountable.
“We, the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, believe that Prince Andrew’s decision to give up his titles is vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere,” they said.
They added, “Further, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to remove the title of Prince.”
Giuffre, who died in April, accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and claimed in her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl that he “believed having sex with me was his birthright.”
Andrew has always denied these allegations and previously settled a U.S. civil lawsuit with her for a reported £12 million ($16 million) without admitting liability.
The royal fallout comes after new details surfaced showing Andrew had multiple contacts with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell even after he claimed to have ended the friendship. Flight logs revealed Andrew flew on Epstein’s private jet on at least four occasions, including a 2006 trip from Luton to Edinburgh with Maxwell on board. Emails from 2019 also suggested continued communication between the two men well after Andrew’s infamous 2011 BBC Newsnight interview.
With military titles, charitable roles, and the HRH honorific already stripped, Andrew’s loss of formal royal honours marks the most significant public fall from grace in recent British royal history.
While Andrew will continue to be addressed as Prince Andrew, the move is a clear signal from Buckingham Palace: the monarchy is distancing itself from ongoing controversy surrounding Epstein and his associates.
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