No one is bigger than the monarchy. Not even the king’s brother.
In the end, that reality spelled the end of Prince Andrew’s life as a prince of the realm.
As details of Andrew’s links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued to dribble out and Parliament raised questions about his rent-free residence at a sprawling country house near Windsor Castle, King Charles III moved Thursday to shield the monarchy from any further revelations.
In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace, the king said he had taken steps to strip his brother of all his titles and honors, including the one he has held since birth — prince. From now on, the scandal-plagued British royal will be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
“The monarchy needed to draw the thickest line they could between Andrew and the rest of the royal family,’’ said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London. “And he’s precisely done that.”
A clear statement
The king’s decision came after last week’s announcement that Andrew had agreed to stop using the titles failed to staunch the flood of tawdry stories that threaten to weaken support for the monarchy. Far from ending the media frenzy, the earlier move spurred calls from some members of Parliament that Andrew be formally stripped of his titles and evicted from the Royal Lodge, the 30-room manor that has been his home since 2004.
That raised the prospect of a parliamentary debate on Andrew’s conduct that would have subjected the royal family to even more unwanted publicity.
Andrew’s disgrace comes as Charles, who is 76 and undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, works to resolve stubborn problems and buttress the foundations of the monarchy before his elder son, Prince William, inherits.
“This, I think, was a very clear statement of what had to be done to get the house in order (now) and also going forward for the future,” said George Gross, a royal expert at King’s College London. “That makes life easier for Prince William … I think that’s also part of it. But it felt inevitable.”
Andrew’s problems aren’t solved
While the king’s decision may help shield the monarchy from the fallout from the scandal, it won’t end Andrew’s problems.
The latest round of stories about Andrew was triggered by the publication of a memoir written by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17. Giuffre, an American living in Australia, took her own life earlier this year.
Her brother, Sky Roberts, on Thursday lauded his sister’s long fight to expose Epstein and Andrew, but continued to call for the king’s brother to be prosecuted.
Andrew has repeatedly denied having sex with Giuffre or committing any crimes.
Historian Andrew Lownie, author of a recent biography of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, said he believes there are grounds to investigate allegations ranging from sex trafficking to misconduct in public office.
“I don’t think it’s the end of it, I think there are many more disclosures to come,” author of “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York,” told Britain’s Press Association. “But at least they’re taking some decisive action.”
Andrew, 65, is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He spent more than 20 years as a Royal Navy officer before leaving to take up his royal duties in 2001.
He has been the subject of tabloid stories stretching back to at least 2007, when he sold a house near Windsor Castle for 20% over the 15 million pound asking price. The buyer was reported to be 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.
Those allegations, coupled with reported links to a son of former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, led to Andrew being stripped of his role as Britain’s special envoy for international trade and investment.
Queen Elizabeth II had a soft spot for Andrew
But royal experts believe Andrew was often shielded from the full weight of his scandals because of his position as the queen’s favorite child.
That became untenable in November 2019, after Andrew gave a disastrous interview to the BBC in an effort to counter media reports about his friendship with Epstein. He was widely criticized for failing to show empathy for Epstein’s victims and for offering unbelievable explanations for his friendship with the disgraced financier.
Soon after the interview aired, Andrew was forced to give up all of his public duties and charity roles.
Now Charles is severing his brother’s remaining ties to the institution of the monarchy. The Royal Lodge has been a particularly sore point, with Andrew until now rejecting the king’s entreaties to give up his 75-year lease on the property. He will now live at the king’s private estate at Sandringham in eastern England.
A monarchy in transition
Prescott, the constitutional expert, said Andrew’s banishment should be seen as part of a transition in the monarchy that began after Elizabeth’s death in 2022.
As long as the queen was alive, people were reluctant to criticize the monarchy because it was seen as personally criticizing the queen, who became a revered figure during her 70-year reign.
Charles has never had that same status and he recognizes that the crown has to be accountable to the people and their representatives in Parliament, Prescott said.
“This is part of the transition of the monarchy becoming more like a typical public institution, capable of being scrutinized by Parliament in one way or another,” he said.
“There was public demand and parliamentary demand for the king to do something,’’ Prescott added. “And he’s done it.”