Pratiksha Ghildial
BBC News

The King and Queen in their statement have said that their thoughts and sympathies remain with the ''victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse''.

I just spoke on the phone with Annie Farmer, one of Jeffrey Epstein's earliest accusers who testified in the trial that resulted in the conviction of his long-time aide Ghislaine Maxwell.

Farmer has also been a strong supporter of Andrew's accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year. She wrote in her memoir that she had sex with him on three separate occasions.

Andrew has consistently denied allegations against him.

She said she was feeling quite emotional at the news of Andrew having to give up his title and move out of the Royal Lodge.

''Virginia did what most thought impossible. She showed the world that even the most powerful predators can be held accountable.''

We're now hearing from Virginia Giuffre's brother Sky and sister-in-law Amanda on BBC's Newsnight.

Reacting to tonight's announcement that Andrew is being stripped of his "prince" title, Sky tells the BBC: "It's a bittersweet moment, we feel like its a very vindicating moment for our sister but its also very surreal."

Amanda goes on to say she "broke down" when she heard the news. She adds that Virginia "didn't get a chance to see this in her lifetime, but everything she fought for wasn't in vain. It truly is a moment for her and all survivors".

You can watch Newsnight on BBC Two or BBC iPlayer.

Image source, The Sun/News Licensing

Prince Andrew played host to convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at his Windsor property - two months after a US arrest warrant had been issued for Epstein for the sexual assault of a minor in 2006.

The BBC has matched the trees and patio wall in a previously published image of the trio to other pictures of Royal Lodge.

They're understood to have visited the residence ahead of Princess Beatrice's masked ball 18th birthday celebrations.

A witness told the BBC they remembered seeing Weinstein and Epstein at a drinks event in the back garden of Royal Lodge - before guests headed to Windsor Castle for the main party.

Asked by BBC Newsnight in 2019 why he invited Epstein to his daughter's birthday after the US arrest warrant was issued, Andrew said: "Certainly I wasn't aware when the invitation was issued what was going on in the United States and I wasn't aware until the media picked up on it because he never said anything about it." Epstein was arrested in Florida eight days after the event.

Question Time was earlier interrupted by the release of Buckingham Palace's announcement that Andrew would lose his "prince" title and will be leaving the Royal Lodge.

As Fiona Bruce shared the news there was applause from the audience.

Reacting to the news, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says it sends a "very powerful message to the victims of grooming and sex offences".

"This is a huge development and a big step for the King to take. I have to say, just, you know, as an initial response, I really support the step that he’s taken."

Image source, Getty Images

Will Andrew get money from the King?

• It is understood Andrew's accommodation will be privately funded by King Charles
• The King will also make "appropriate private provision" for his brother

• Since stepping back from public life, Andrew has also cultivated other sources of funding - including business connections with China and the Gulf States

How will his titles be removed?

• The King's decision to strip Andrew of his titles is being implemented with immediate effect
• Royal warrants are sent to the Lord Chancellor - who is David Lammy - to officially remove them
• The titles being stripped are: Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh. The honours of Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order will also be removed - and he will no longer have the right to be called His Royal Highness

What happens next?

• Historians tell the BBC that Andrew will continue to be frozen out of royal public life - already he is not invited to attend public royal events
• Campaigners against the monarchy - like Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic - say there should be a wider investigation into what the Royal Family might have known about his links to Epstein

For more on what we know, you can read our full explainer.

Image source, Getty Images

This is a "tipping point" says Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer who represented Virginia Giuffre during her civil sexual assault case against Andrew.

"Her bravery, determination and resilient spirit has led to the defining moment."

This moment "should be a lesson for all to listen, hear and believe survivors of abuse" she says.

Virginia Giuffre - who took her own life earlier this year - alleged she had sex with Andrew three times as a teenager, which Andrew has repeatedly denied.

In 2003, Prince Andrew signed a lease on the Royal Lodge – a 30-room, Grade II listed mansion in Windsor Great Park, close to Windsor Castle.

He will now be leaving the Royal Lodge and moving to a private property in the Sandringham Estate.

The Royal Lodge has almost 100 acres of secluded grounds, including the royal chapel where Princess Beatrice’s wedding took place. The landlord, the Crown Estate, operates as an independent company.

Andrew made several up-front payments when he signed the 75-year lease, totalling about £8 million.

That means he’s been paying a "peppercorn" rent ever since. That’s a small, symbolic sum, which in this case seems to be nothing at all.

Image source, Crown Estate/PA

His lease with the Crown Estate had meant he would be able to stay there until 2078, beyond his expected lifetime - in light Buckingham Palace's announcement, this is no longer the case.

The contract also states that his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, are able to take over the residency - it is not yet known if this still stands.

Image source, Getty Images

Royal Historian Sarah Gristwood tells the BBC this is the moment the Royal Family "hoped would never come".

Speaking to Rebecca Kesby on BBC World Service's Newshour programme, she says "the fact they have moved so decisively shows just how seriously they take the story and the damage it could do to the monarchy as a whole”.

“It's only now that it's become apparent that Andrew has to be a pariah, that he can never have a place in Royal circles again,” Gristwood says.

Dominic Casciani
Home and Legal Correspondent

The stripping of a princely title is so rare in British royal-legal history that the last person to suffer such a public fall from grace was Ernest Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh.

He ceased to be a Prince in the wake of the slaughter of World War One.

His crime had been to back the Germans, choosing that side of his family, despite being a direct descendent of King George III.

Parliament had to vote through the unprecedented “Titles Deprivation Act 1917” which allowed King George V’s advisers to draw up a hit list of Germany-supporting aristocrats.

And then on 29 March 1919 Augustus was publicly named-and-shamed in the London Gazette, the official journal of the King’s business, as having been among those who had “during the present war borne arms against Your Majesty or Your Allies or who have adhered to Your Majesty's enemies”.

Image source, Getty Images

Prince Andrew being stripped of his "prince" title caps off weeks of intense scrutiny.

His links to Jeffrey Epstein have come under the spotlight and pressure has been mounting on the Royal Family.

Today, Buckingham Palace announced he will also be leaving his Windsor home, Royal Lodge.

If you're just joining us - here is the latest:

• After losing his title, Prince Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, Buckingham Palace says.
• He will be moved into private accommodation in Sandringham Estate "as soon as is practicable", which will be funded by the King

• The palace has expressed their support for victims of "any and all forms of abuse"
• The family of Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she had sex with Andrew three times as a teenager, say she "brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage". Andrew continues to deny the accusations against him. Giuffre took her own life earlier this year
• Andrew's two adult daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, will retain their titles as princesses, but Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will have to make her own living arrangements
• Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne

Image source, PA Media

In our previous post, we brought you some initial comments from Kemi Badenoch.

We've now taken a look at reaction from across the political spectrum to the news that Prince Andrew is being stripped of his "prince" title.

• Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch tells LBC that stripping Andrew of the Prince title "must have been a very difficult thing" for the King to do - adding that "the whole Jeffrey Epstein saga....has just shown that the public has no truck whatsoever with any kind of sexual abuse" which is "quite right"
• Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats says "the King is absolutely right to strip Prince Andrew of both his titles and his resident at the Royal Lodge... this is an important step towards rebuilding trust in our institutions"
• SNP Leader in Westminster Stephen Flynn calls it "the right decision and an important moment for the victims of Epstein"

As a reminder, it is understood that the government was consulted and it made clear it supports the decision.

Noor Nanji
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

For the royal family, this continues to be both a personal and a public crisis.

Andrew is of course, King Charles’s younger brother.

And no matter how damaging this scandal had become, it cannot have been in any way easy for the King to take such a drastic step – stripping his own brother of his prince title, which he has had since birth.

The leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch reflected on that, when she was speaking to LBC this evening.

She said it must have been “very difficult” for the King to strip his brother of his titles and Royal Lodge residence, but added that he clearly felt this was “the right decision” for the royal family.

Despite their family links, events have shaped their relationship – and the pressure clearly got to such a point that the King felt he had to act.

Image source, US Department of Justice via Press Association

We can now bring you a statement from Virginia Giuffre's family. Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year, alleged she had sex with Andrew three times as a teenager - something Andrew has repeatedly denied.

"Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage," say her brother Sky Roberts and sister-in-law Amanda.

"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."

Despite being stripped of his "prince" title today, Andrew is still eighth in line for the throne, according to Buckingham Palace.

The order of succession to the King is as follows:

1. The Prince of Wales (William)

2. Prince George of Wales

3. Princess Charlotte of Wales

4. Prince Louis of Wales

5. The Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry)

6. Prince Archie of Sussex

7. Princess Lilibet of Sussex

8. Andrew

Noor Nanji
Culture reporter

That’s the million pound question.

Andrew relinquishing his titles didn’t seem to make much difference to the continued damaging headlines about him. If anything, the scrutiny has intensified in recent weeks.

But this is the ultimate sanction. His prince title, gone. His Windsor mansion, also gone.

The Palace will hope fervently that this move is successful in drawing a line under the scandals.

"These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him," it said.

What we don’t know is if there will be any further disclosures about Andrew, or whether this will satisfy the public disquiet about him.

Noor Nanji
Culture reporter

Andrew's removal from the last vestiges of royal life is not only reshaping his future - it's sending ripples through his family too.

When he gave up his Duke of York title a few weeks ago, his ex-wife also lost her duchess title and is now simply known as Sarah Ferguson.

But their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, continued to have the title of princess.

And even after today’s developments, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice will retain their titles, as they are the daughters of the son of a Sovereign.

That will have been a key consideration for Andrew in any negotiations, and is a small victory for him.

But the palace will also want to be seen as doing the right thing by Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35.

They remain much loved nieces of the King, royal author Katie Nicholl recently told me - notwithstanding the scandal surrounding their parents.

Image source, WireImage

It is understood that Sarah Ferguson, Andrew's ex-wife, will also move out of Royal Lodge and will make her own living arrangements.

Ferguson, 66, is the mother of Andrew's two children, the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Although she and Andrew divorced in 1996, they maintain a close relationship and Ferguson remained at Royal Lodge with her ex-husband.

Until this month, Ferguson kept the title Sarah, Duchess of York - but she reverted to her maiden name of Ferguson after Andrew voluntarily gave up the usage of the Duke of York title.

The final words in the Palace statement are tellingpublished at 19:59 GMT

19:59 GMT

Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Windsor

The last words in the Palace statement are telling – that the King and Queen’s thoughts have been, and always will be, "with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse".

If we look back at the statement that Andrew issued a few weeks ago - when he announced that he was giving up his other titles and honours - there was no mention of thoughts or sympathies of victims and survivors.

It's been almost six years since Andrew’s BBC Newsnight interview – which led to him stepping back from royal duties in 2019. So why has he lost his "prince" title now?

• January 2025: In his Newsnight interview, Andrew said he had severed all links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after they were pictured together in New York in December 2010. But in January 2025, emails emerged that appeared to show contact beyond this point. One sent in February 2011, believed to be from Prince Andrew to Epstein, said: "Keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!”
• October 2025: The February 2011 email to Epstein re-emerges, with the Mail on Sunday saying it was from Andrew and printing more details. "It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it," the prince reportedly wrote
• October 2025: Andrew voluntarily gave up most of his titles. He remained a prince but would no longer use the Duke of York title

• October 2025: Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir is published with further details of her allegations against Prince Andrew – including that they had sex on three separate occasions when she was a teenager. He denies all the claims

"They’re finally getting ahead of the story, but this isn’t the end of it," says historian and author Andrew Lownie, who earlier this year published his Entitled: The rise and fall of the House of York.

He tells the BBC the Palace is "finally taking some decisive action" - but it "won’t completely satisfy the public disquiet".

As for how Andrew is feeling, the author says it’s a "huge humiliation" for Andrew.

"He’s been very depressed about it all, even though he’s been defiant in public," Lownie says.

Image source, Getty Images