Prince Andrew suffered the ultimate humiliation last night as he was stripped of his titles and home but his family life could be set for further upheaval with his daughters planning to distance themselves from him, royal experts have warned.
The disgraced former Duke of York, now simply known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, will have ‘no one else to turn to’ after suffering the ‘biggest royal fall from grace in recent history’.
Andrew, 65, lost his birth title of prince and he will be banished from Royal Lodge to a private home on Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
Buckingham Palace said ‘censures are deemed necessary’ on Thursday amid the ongoing scandal over child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom Andrew lied about cutting ties with.
In a cold statement, the palace said: ‘Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.’
The brutal 109-word statement came after weeks of renewed accusations, triggered by The Mail on Sunday, which revealed bombshell emails laying bare the depth of his friendship with Epstein.
Combined with Virginia Giuffre’s devastating posthumous memoir, which revealed further revelations about Andrew’s links with questionable businessmen and mounting public fury over the advantageous lease on his Windsor mansion, the King removed his titles and lodging.
Andrew will now have to face a new reality – one which could see him distanced from his beloved daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, according to royal experts.
The disgraced former Duke of York will have ‘no one else to turn to’ apart from his daughters, royal experts have claimed (pictured with daughters Eugenie and Beatrice in 2016)
Andrew, pictured on Monday, will no longer be known as a prince and is to leave Royal Lodge, it has been confirmed
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Andrew’s former home
Royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail their relationship will ‘change drastically’.
‘His daughters will want to keep as much distance as possible from him. It will be devastating for them.’
Princess Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, will retain their Royal titles despite their father no longer being a prince.
Angela Levin, a royal commentator and biographer, told the Mail the pair will want to avoid him as much as possible but might have to ‘step up’ and parent their father if he becomes ‘desperate’.
She said: ‘I think Andrew will feel so crumbled about what has happened. He’s always been so pompous and trusting himself as being so clever.
‘For him to have everything taken away, and for that to happen in front of your children, who are grown up and can understand what he is being accused of, is very embarrassing to him, and for his own children.
‘He will have to lean on them if he has no one else.’
Andrew was excluded from official photographs at Beatrice’s wedding in July 2020 as allegations over his friendship with Epstein emerged.
His relationship with his children will now be further strained, experts say.
‘I think it will be very difficult for a while, and they will alter their relationship according to what the public mood is,’ Ms Levin said.
Read more on Andrew’s humiliation:
The public’s damning verdict on Andrew’s downfall
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How King Charles will remove his brother Andrew’s title
Virginia Giuffre’s family speaks out as Andrew is stripped of his title
The Royal Family released a public statement announcing Andrew would no longer be a prince
Security stand at the gates of the Royal Lodge following Thursday’s announcement
‘If he’s absolutely crumbled and in a desperate mood, they will have to be nice to him, or look after him as if they are the adult, and he’s the child.
‘They are responsible to a certain extent at their age to just watch him and see if he’s suffering from any mental results of this, or whether he is being pompous.
‘It’s a terrible thing to do that for your own children, who you have loved. He’s adored his children and always tried to do the best for them. But now he’s shriveled to nothing.’
Both of Andrew’s daughters have children of their own and will be keen to avoid him, the royal biographer said.
‘But they might have to step up because he can trust them,’ she added.
‘He will need them enormously. But they’ve also got their own lives. They’re married, they’ve got more children, and they’ve got jobs and he will be another responsibility. They can’t be looking after him at every moment.
‘It’s a very undignified and horrible thing for them to have to deal with their own father.
‘The relationship cannot be the same now. They’ve forgiven him for so many things but I don’t think they want to be close too him.’
It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King’s leadership on the recent move.
The Prince of Wales would have been significantly involved in the decision, according to royal experts.
The move was said to have been down to the King and his advisers, without pressure from the government. The monarch is pictured in Australia earlier this month
‘I see the hand of William in this decision. He would not want valuable work, including his upcoming trip to Brazil, to be overshadowed. Charles had to get it done before that,’ Mr Fitzwilliam said.
Ms Levin added: ‘The King would have listened very much to William.
‘But we have been told that it wasn’t William who made the decision. It was the King. And I think to put him under the stress of being so furious after suffering from cancer is just terrible.’
The disgraced royal should carry out some charity work in the hope of partly restoring his reputation, Mr Fitzwilliam added.
‘If Andrew had any sense he would do some charity work. But he won’t.’
Ms Levin added: ‘I doubt he’ll even say he is sorry. He will say he’s done nothing wrong as he has been claiming for years.’
The Royal author believes Andrew’s punishment has set a precedent which could see Harry stripped of his titles.
She said: ‘I absolutely hope this is a warning for Harry.
It is understood Sarah Ferguson, seen with Andrew at Royal Ascot in 2019, will make her own living arrangements
Andrew is seen on the Windsor Estate on September 27 this year
‘Harry has gone way too far in his behaviour.
‘This should show him that he should go no further, now that the King can do this, that he can take away titles from his family.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to Montecito, California, in July 2020, the same year the 41-year-old quit as working royal.
‘The King should say that you can’t have a title unless you are doing your work and take it away from Harry and Meghan,’ Ms Levin said.
Mr Fitzwilliams added: ‘Andrew being stripped of his titles are of immense significance. It is totally unprecedented.
‘Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have disgraced themselves by trying to cling on to Royal Lodge.
‘They have dragged the whole family down. It is obvious they have used their positions for personal benefit.’
Andrew is still eighth in line to the throne and a counsellor of state who could step in for the King, although Parliament has made it clear that non-working royals will not serve in this capacity.
His departure from the Royal Lodge, where he paid ‘peppercorn rent’ over 20 years’, comes as he faces a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office.
On Thursday, anti–monarchy campaign group Republic said it had instructed lawyers to investigate the prince and, if appropriate, press ahead with legal proceedings.
The Daily Mail understands the allegations it is focusing on relate to allegations he sexually assaulted Giuffre, that he asked a royal protection officer to look into her background and impropriety when he served as an official UK trade envoy.
Another royal expert, Phil Dampier, said: ‘This is the biggest fall in grace in recent royal history, absolutely unprecedented.
‘For Andrew personally, it’s devastating, a Greek tragedy. But there is little sympathy for him and quite rightly, the King and Queen have said the sympathy should be with sex victims.
‘Andrew made a big mistake by not expressing those thoughts enough. And he also made a massive mistake by denying he had ever met Virginia Giuffre. It made him look ridiculous.
‘His past has caught up with him in the most astonishing way. I thought he would be forced out of Royal Lodge but to take away his Prince title is extraordinary.
‘The King and William obviously decided enough was enough and this had to be dealt with once and for all before William becomes King.’
Andrew Lownie, a royal historian, said the monarchy were ‘finally getting ahead of the story’.
‘I don’t think that’s the end of it. I think there are many more disclosures to come, but at least they’re taking some decisive action. So, I don’t think it’s all over for him.’
Andrew pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in New York’s Central Park in 2011
Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in a photo reportedly taken in 2001, when Giuffre was 17 years old
Asked if it now means it is more likely he will be investigated by police, Mr Lownie said: ‘Yes, I’ve been saying for some time they’re going to throw Andrew under the bus to save themselves and this is the first indication of that.
‘This should have been done years ago. I think it’s been Virginia Giuffre’s book that kind of made the palace realise that there is a big problem here.’
Another expert, Jennie Bond, said: ‘It’s hard to fathom a disgrace more complete.
‘From Prince and Duke, much-loved son of a monarch, to plain old Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is a fall that is hard to comprehend.’
Ms Guiffre’s family spoke out following the announcement that Andrew would lose his prince title.
Her brother Skye and sister-in-law Amanda said: ‘Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.
‘Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her.
‘Today, she declares victory.
‘We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.’
Anti–monarchy group Republic says it intends to investigate allegations that the former Duke of York sexually assaulted Giuffre (pictured)
Amid the controversy, His Majesty, King Charles III, was very keen to ‘protect’ Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who remain Her Royal Highnesses
Andrew stands next to Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, as they leave Westminster Cathedral at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral
It is understood earlier this month the Metropolitan Police was ‘actively’ looking into the claims Andrew had asked his personal protection officer to investigate Ms Giuffre, and that he was interviewed by detectives at home last week.
An email published by the Mail on Sunday earlier this month also revealed how Andrew asked his taxpayer–funded protection officer to dig into her past, two months after the infamous photo of him with Giuffre and Maxwell came to light.
In an extraordinary message to Ed Perkins, Queen Elizabeth’s deputy press secretary, he wrote: ‘It would also seem she has a criminal record in the States. I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with XXX, the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].’
It comes as scandalous correspondence from Andrew to Epstein emerged, with the former duke telling the paedophile ‘we are in this together’ a day after the infamous picture of the royal with his alleged then-teenage sex victim Ms Giuffre was released.
He said he was ‘concerned’ about the impact this newspaper’s revelations would have on his friend but reassured the vile billionaire they would ‘rise above’ press scrutiny.
The correspondence was sent to Epstein 12 weeks after Andrew had supposedly ceased all contact with the convicted sex offender.
The leaked email provides definitive proof the Prince lied in his car-crash interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with the disgraced financier after the pair were famously pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.
In another world exclusive the Mail on Sunday also exposed a bombshell email revealing how Fergie cynically lied when she publicly disowned the vile billionaire.
The York family: Beatrice, Sarah, Andrew and Eugenie pictured at a gathering
It was just weeks after her public statement that she wrote him a gushing private message, describing disgraced Epstein as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ – confessing she only distanced herself from him to save her own reputation.
Now, the former Duchess of York will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson.
Following the revelation, Sarah was dropped by seven charities after ‘humbly apologising’ to Epstein after disavowing him amid his conviction for child sexual abuse offences.
The leaked email shows Sarah wrote to the convicted sex offender to ‘humbly apologise’ in 2011 just weeks after telling the press she had cut all ties with him.
The series of scandalous emails piled on the pressure for the Royal Family to sever ties with the ex-Yorks, with internal talks beginning after Prince William was left ‘seething’ by his uncle’s behaviour at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month.
Andrew was pictured sidling up to the Prince and Princess of Wales, which the heir to the throne saw as him being distracted from the ceremony.
No 10 has also reportedly been pressuring the royals to deal with the scandal, which has run on for years and saw Andrew step back from public life in 2019.
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