London: Prince Andrew says he is giving up his royal title of the Duke of York and other honours after his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein returned to the headlines.

The younger brother of King Charles III said he and the royal family had decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”, Prince Andrew said in a statement on Saturday (AEDT) released by Buckingham Palace.

“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,” Andrew said.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.

“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me,” the statement concluded.

His daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie will be unaffected, but his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will also no longer be known as the Duchess of York. In September, several charities cut their links to Ferguson after she described Epstein as a “supreme friend” in an email three years after he had pleaded guilty in 2008 to a state prostitution charge in Florida and agreed to register as a sex offender.

The news came after the release of excerpts of an upcoming posthumous memoir from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who has alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.

It’s the latest fall from grace for the 65-year-old prince, who had already stepped down from public life in 2019 over his links to Epstein despite his denials of any wrongdoing.

Giuffre died by suicide in April. In the memoir, she details alleged encounters with Prince Andrew, whom she sued in 2021, claiming that they had sex when she was 17. Andrew denied her claims and said he didn’t recall having met her.

Andrew, once second in line to the British throne, has long been a source of tabloid fodder because of his links to Epstein, other questionable characters and money woes.

‘I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first.’

Prince Andrew

His attempt to refute Giuffre’s allegations backfired during a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers saw a prince who proffered curious rebuttals – such as disputing Giuffre’s recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring – and showed no empathy for the women who said Epstein had abused them.

Within days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties. Giuffre sued him, and the case was settled in 2022 for an undisclosed sum. A statement filed in court said the prince acknowledged Epstein had been a sex trafficker and Giuffre was “an established victim of abuse”.

According to a recent poll by YouGov, 67 per cent of Britons supported stripping Andrew of his remaining royal titles, with 13 per cent opposing the move. A separate survey found only 5 per cent of respondents had a favourable view of him.

Andrew, who had already given up being called “His Royal Highness”, will continue to live in Royal Lodge, a large property on the estate surrounding Windsor Castle, a historic royal palace to the west of London.

As well as no longer being known as the Duke of York, Andrew will also give up other titles: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

He will remain a prince, which he has been entitled to since birth.

However, he will no longer attend the annual royal Christmas get-togethers at Sandringham, the royal home in eastern England.

In addition to the ties to Epstein that have dogged him, Andrew’s business relations have also proved problematic.

Last December, court documents revealed that a Chinese businessman who had been authorised to act on Andrew’s behalf to seek investors in China had been banned from Britain on national security grounds.

The documents revealed the businessman, who the British government believed to be a spy, had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party.

Lifeline: 13 11 14

AP, Reuters

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