Prince Andrew is losing the title that he’s had since birth and being evicted from his royal residence following recent revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal proved one too many for his brother, King Charles III, who took action on Thursday by formally stripping Andrew of his titles.
Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.Credit: Alamy Stock Photo
Andrew’s antics have tried the patience of the royal family for more than 40 years, triggering embarrassing headlines, lawsuits and suspicions that the prince, now 65, was using his position for personal gain.
Here are some of the episodes that tarnished the reputation of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s second son and finally forced his older brother to banish him from public life.
1984
Andrew sprays reporters and photographers with paint while touring a construction project in the Watts neighbourhood of Los Angeles. “I enjoyed that,” Andrew said, while wiping his hands on a piece of newspaper.
Andrew in December 1984.Credit: Fairfax
2007
The prince sells his house at Sunninghill Park, near Windsor Castle, with news reports suggesting the buyer paid 20 per cent more than the asking price of £15 million ($30 million). The buyer was reportedly Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of Nursultan Nazarbayev, then-president of Kazakhstan, raising concerns that the deal was an attempt to buy influence in Britain.
Andrew and Sarah Ferguson pose with their two daughters Eugenie (left) and Beatrice in Verbier, Switzerland in 1998.Credit: AP
2010
An undercover reporter posing as a wealthy Arab films Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, apparently offering to sell access to the prince for £500,000 ($1 million).
Sarah Ferguson pictured in 2016.Credit: AP
2011
Andrew is forced to resign as Britain’s special trade envoy following the first reports of his links to Epstein. The prince was also facing questions about his friendship with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, as well as his links to a convicted Libyan gun smuggler.
July 2019
Epstein is arrested for a second time on charges of sex-trafficking and later takes his own life in a New York jail cell. The news focuses public attention on allegations that Andrew had sex with at least one underage teenager trafficked by Epstein. Andrew denies the allegations.
Jeffrey Epstein died in his prison cell in 2019.Credit: AP
November 16, 2019
Andrew attempts to staunch the flood of criticism by agreeing to an on-camera grilling by BBC reporter Emily Maitlis. The interview backfires when the prince defends his relationship with Epstein, fails to show empathy for his victims and offers explanations of his behaviour that many people find hard to believe. Andrew says he broke off contact with Epstein in December 2010, a date that will come back to haunt him.
November 20, 2019
Buckingham Palace announces that Andrew will suspend all royal duties “for the foreseeable future”. Four days later, the prince is stripped of his role as patron of 230 charities.
2022
Andrew agrees to settle a New York civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged that she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17. While Andrew didn’t admit to any of Roberts Giuffre’s allegations, he acknowledged that she had suffered as a sexual abuse victim. Legal experts estimate that the undisclosed settlement cost Andrew as much as $US10 million.
Virginia Giuffre, with a photo of herself as a teen, was one of the most high-profile victims of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.Credit: Getty
2024
Andrew’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy are revealed in court documents. The businessman and suspected spy was barred from the UK because of concerns he posed a threat to national security. Security officials were concerned that the man could have misused his influence over Andrew.
April 25, 2025
Virginia Roberts Giuffre takes her own life in Australia, where she had lived since about 2002.
October 12, 2025
British newspapers reveal that Andrew sent an email to Epstein on February 28, 2011, more than two months after the prince had told the BBC in 2019 he cut off all contact with his one-time friend. Andrew wrote the email after continued media reporting about the Epstein scandal, telling him they were “in this together” and would “have to rise above it”.
Andrew at Royal Chapel in Windsor, 2021Credit: PA
October 17, 2025
Andrew says he is giving up his royal title of the Duke of York and other honours because “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.
October 31, 2025 AEDT
Buckingham Palace announces that the King is stripping Andrew of his remaining titles, including prince, and evicting him from his royal residence, Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle. Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and will move to a residence on the royal estate at Sandringham.
Andrew moved into Royal Lodge, the former home of the Queen Mother, in 2003. Sarah Ferguson joined him there in 2008.Credit:
Lifeline 13 11 14; Beyond Blue 1800 512 348; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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