The royal family has been front and centre this week, as King Charles stripped his brother Andrew of his titles, honours and royal residence in a historic move.
The 65-year-old has been under scrutiny following his link to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And despite the disgraced royal relinquishing his Duke of York title earlier this month, the royal family has been under pressure to remove his remaining privileges.
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“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew,” read an official statement from Buckingham Palace on Thursday. “Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
“His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” the statement continued, confirming that he and ex wife Sarah Ferguson were also having their royal residence removed. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement concluded. “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.”
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Prince William is reported to have played a major role behind the scenes in this historic move, with the future King stepping up to support his father.
However, Kensington Palace reportedly spoke out this week to shut down claims that Prince William was putting pressure on Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to assist in the removal of their father.
Entitled: the Rise and Fall of the House of York, by Andrew Lownie
This new biography unpacks the life of Prince Andrew, and been touted as ‘the most devastating royal biography ever written’.
“There was a question over whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between Prince William and the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie saying, ‘You guys have to get your dad to move out of Royal Lodge otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles,'” journalist Emily Maitlis alleged on her popular ‘News Agents’ podcast earlier this week.
“They are at the moment allowed to be princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the princesses to say this is going to happen.”
However, according to the Mirror, via Fashion’s Digest US, Kensington Palace has denied claims of an alleged meeting between Prince William and his cousins, calling reports around it “factually inaccurate”.
We will continue to update this story.