Prince Andrew gives up his title as Duke of York

Prince Andrew is giving up his titles, including the Duke of York, he has announced in a personal statement.

He has been under increasing pressure over his links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with calls for Buckingham Palace to take action against him.

That now seems to have resulted in the prince deciding to voluntarily hand back his titles and to give up membership of the Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior order of chivalry in Britain.

In his statement he said he continued to "vigorously deny the accusations against me".

"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," said a statement from Prince Andrew.

"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. 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."

His decision to stop using his titles was made in consultation with William, Prince of Wales, as well as the King.

He will remain a prince - but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

Prince Andrew had already ceased to be a "working royal" and had lost the use of his HRH title and no longer appeared at official royal events. His role now will be even more diminished.

He is expected to stay in his Windsor home, Royal Lodge, on which he has his own private lease which runs until 2078.

His ex-wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York, but their daughters will continue to have the title of princess.

The prince has faced a series of scandals over recent years, including a court case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, questions about his finances and his involvement with an alleged Chinese spy.

There had been growing frustration in Buckingham Palace at the scandals that continued to surround the prince.

Next week a posthumous memoir by Ms Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year, will be published. It is likely to cast further attention on Prince Andrew's involvement with her and Epstein.

Ms Giuffre claimed that she was one of many vulnerable girls and young women who had been sexually exploited by Epstein and his circle of wealthy connections.

She alleged that the prince had sex with her at his friend Ghislaine Maxwell's house in London in 2001, when Ms Giuffre was 17 years old.

Her memoir describes two other occasions on which she alleges she had sex with Prince Andrew - in Epstein's townhouse in New York and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.

The prince made a financial payment to Ms Giuffre in an out-of-court settlement in 2022, after she had brought a civil case against him. He denies all the accusations made against him.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight following the announcement that Andrew was giving up his titles, Ms Giuffre's brother Sky Roberts said the news had brought mixed emotions, but that his late sister "would be very proud" of the development.

"We have shed a lot of happy and sad tears today. I think happy because in a lot of ways this vindicates Virginia," he said.

"All the years of work that she put in is now coming to some sort of justice, and these monsters can't escape from it - the truth will find its way out."

He said this was "a moment where survivors are not staying quiet any more".

"It's just a joyous moment for them because we're finally getting some sense of acknowledgement, like 'this actually happened, what we're saying is the truth'," Mr Roberts added.

He said there was "so much more to be accomplished, especially here in the United States".

Mr Roberts said he thinks anybody implicated "should have some sort of responsibility and accountability for these survivors", and that he would welcome any contact adding from the King or members of parliament.

Prince Andrew has faced intense scrutiny over his links with disgraced financier Epstein, more recently including questions about when he had really cut off contact.

In a now-infamous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, Prince Andrew said that he had severed all links with Epstein after they had been photographed together in New York in December 2010.

But emails sent in February 2011 later emerged suggesting that he had privately stayed in touch with Epstein, including sending a message that read: "Keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!"

Epstein accuser Haley Robson told BBC Newsnight it was a "bittersweet" moment.

Ms Robson said Ms Giuffre "started this fight and we're going to see it through", adding that "I really wish that she could have been here to see all of what she started".

"Having him [Prince Andrew] step down and be stripped of his titles is something that is long delayed, and it is very appropriate, and kudos to King Charles," Ms Robson said.

But royal biographer Andrew Lownie argued the "statement should have come from the King".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said a "firmer line should have been taken".

Mr Lownie, who wrote Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, said: "If Andrew was putting his duty to his family and his country first, he would have moved out of Royal Lodge years ago and would have actually stood down many years ago."

Andrew withdrew from Royal Family events last Christmas after an alleged Chinese spy who he was linked to was named in a High Court judgement.

His office said nothing sensitive had ever been discussed with Yang Tengbo, also known as Chris Yang, who became a close advisor on Andrew's business ventures.

In 2022, Andrew was repeatedly named in a court dispute between a Turkish millionaire and her former business adviser.

There were no suggestions of wrongdoing by the prince, but the court case highlighted the prince as receiving payments in a complex set of financial deals. A gift of £750,000 was returned to the Turkish millionaire by the prince.

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