Prince Andrew announced on Oct. 17 that he was giving up the royal title of Duke of York and his other honors as allegations connected to his friendship with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to public focus.
“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,” Prince Andrew said in his statement released by Buckingham Palace. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
He added, “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family.”
Along with no longer being the Duke of York, the title given to him by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the prince will also surrender his titles of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also lose her title as Duchess of York, and she had several charities cut ties with her after British newspapers shared an email she wrote to Epstein in which she described him as a “supreme friend.”
Prince Andrew will remain a recognized prince, a title he’s held since birth, and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie will remain princesses.
The 65-year-old younger brother of King Charles III stepped away from public life in 2019 due to his links to Epstein. His recent decision to go further and give up his titles comes amid the release of excerpts of a posthumous memoir from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, scheduled to be released on Oct. 21.
Giuffre alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and was sexually abused by Prince Andrew when she was 17. She died in April at the age of 41, with her family saying it was a suicide. Her memoir is set to detail alleged encounters with the prince.
She sued Prince Andrew in 2021, and the case was settled in 2022 for an undisclosed amount.
According to a statement filed in court, Prince Andrew acknowledged Epstein was a sex offender and Giuffre was “an established victim of abuse” while continuing to deny any wrongdoing.
The Epstein-related allegations were not the only controversy the prince was facing. Court documents in December 2024 revealed that he had a close relationship with a Chinese national and businessman known only as H6 at the time, who was suspected of being a Chinese spy and was barred from the UK in 2023.
Prince Andrew said that he did not share any sensitive information with H6 and that he cut off contact with him as soon as concerns were raised.
Evgenia Filimianova and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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