Prince Andrew gives up royal titles after 'discussion with the king'

Prince Andrew is relinquishing his royal titles, including that of Duke of York.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Prince 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,” the statement continued. “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.”

According to The Guardian, the only title he’ll retain is that of Prince, which cannot be removed since he is the son of a queen.

His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also no longer use her title, Duchess of York, and simply be Sarah Ferguson going forward. Their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will be unaffected by the change.

Prince Andrew has faced intense scrutiny over the past few years due to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a more recent relationship with a figure involved in an alleged Chinese spy.

The attention first came to Prince Andrew in 2015 when he faced a sexual abuse lawsuit from the late Virginia Giuffre, who alleged Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends in 2001, including Prince Andrew, while she was underage.

In 2022, Prince Andrew and Giuffre reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.

Amid the lawsuit, he was stripped of his military titles and charity affiliations and banned from using his HRH honorific, per The Guardian.