I swear, the Windsors really have to stop with these late Friday news dumps. When I left my house this afternoon, there were several increasingly urgent stories about Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. Last weekend, Andrew’s 2011 email to Jeffrey Epstein was published by the Daily Mail – that email proved that Andrew lied about when he broke off contact with Epstein, and the email also suggested that Andrew and Epstein planned to continue seeing each other and abusing women and girls together. Throughout the past week, the fallout has been limited to palace sources openly dithering about what to do next, all while emphasizing that they believed dealing with Prince Harry was a “greater priority” for the Firm. Well, I was wrong – I thought nothing would come out of this latest round of dithering about Andrew. But something happened. Andrew is now giving up all of his titles and honors.
Prince Andrew is discontinuing the use of his royal titles and honors.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday, Oct. 17, Prince Andrew said he will no longer use his title or honors as it distracts from the work of King Charles and the royal family.
Andrew, 65, said in the statement, “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. 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,” he continued. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
To officially strip Prince Andrew’s titles, it would require an act of parliament.
Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will no longer use her Duchess of York title. She has long gone by Sarah Ferguson professionally and will now use that name in all areas of her life, PEOPLE understands. The former couple will also continue to reside at their residence, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor Castle estate, as Andrew has a private tenancy agreement with The Crown Estate, which is unaffected by issues relating to his titles.
PEOPLE also understands that Andrew will not attend any of the royal family’s Christmas celebrations.
The former couple’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will not have their titles affected by this decision.
Prince Andrew has been styled as “His Royal Highness” since birth. Upon his marriage to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, his mother, Queen Elizabeth, gave him the titles of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. The Duke of York is the traditional title for the sovereign’s second son, and the elite peerage has a rich royal history. According to British etiquette expert Debrett’s, the dukedom has been traditionally conferred upon the second son of the monarch since Edward IV in 1474. Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, was also known as the Duke of York prior to the shocking abdication of his elder brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936.
The Royal Lodge thing is interesting, almost as if that was part of the agreement – Andrew gave up his titles and honors, in exchange for keeping his lease on Royal Lodge. I’ve got to wonder if Charles threw in a few more perks to sweeten the deal, like Andrew will still be allowed to host shooting parties on privately-owned royal property (Windsor, Sandringham, Balmoral). It’s also interesting that Sarah is officially giving up her Duchess of York title too, although people already went back to using her maiden name anyway. Whew… well, it had to be done. And a lot more should be done as well, including Andrew agreeing to be interviewed in the long-running criminal investigations in the UK and America. Also: should we call him Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor now?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
Serious question: what difference does this actually make? He gives up the ceremonial privileges but keep the material ones. He continues to be treated as a special boy who is having his special names and outfits removed but god forbid we make him face justice as a man.
Exactly. He gets to keep his house. His money. Gives up standing on a balcony or wearing a garish robe, but still faces no consequences.
This!!!!!
Sounds like Andrew got a a fairly good deal. Who wants to stand on that balcony anyway. He is still HRH Prince Andrew as that is a tile by birth even if he does not use it.
Charles isn’t long for this world and they needed the title for Louis. There is some schadenfreude to Andrew’s public humiliation, but it doesn’t replace justice for his victims.
Yep! Even less work for the same pay – though that seems to be the motto of the entire BRF, since that’s what Chuck & Wills do too.
Serious question though: I thought he *already* gave up his titles (i.e. agreed not to use them) back during the fallout from either the interview or VG settlement?
After all, wasn’t that the rule about non-working royals?
Had he really not? So, all this time, H&M, who gave up their titles in 2020, have had WORSE official punishment than a sex trafficking child rapist?
I think people in The Firm *do* care quite a bit about that kind of thing (see all the talks and hand wringing about H&Ms use of their titles)- but I’m with you. The titles are absolutely nothing.
Is the hand wringing coming from the family, the men in grey or the press.
As per Royal CNN reporter, Andrew was NOT, unfortunately, stripped of titles and honors.. He simply agreed to no longe use them. The same for Sarah. These two pathetic grifters.
Yup. Every headline is bleating about him giving up his titles. he did not. Hes just not going to use them. The only one I’ve see really call this out is…….Richard Eden.
(I threw up a little bit when I realized I agreed with him.)
But that said, for these people, that title means a lot, the HRH means a lot – so this does sting for him, I’m sure.
i’m also sure Charles offered him something significant in return,
Okay I’m laughing that Eden is the only one who has called that out. I actually think he would want Andrew to be stripped bc then they could try and make a stronger case for stripping Harry.
That’s what had me confused all weekend. The headlines said he was giving up the titles. That’s not what he said. Not using them is not the same as giving them up. People falling for the okey doke. 😏
The giving up of titles, is that even a thing he can do on his own? Removal of titles can only be accomplished by an act of parliament.
Essentially, nothing material has changed in Andrew’s circumstances.
The reason he’s clinging to the lodge is royal protection. Without it, they can extradite him. If he’s a royal on crown land under the protection of the monarch, they can’t touch him.
Which makes him safe … at least until the Scooter Hermit inherits the throne.
Andrew loves his titles, so this is a personal hit for him as an affront to his dignity.
It’s still not justice, he should be facing criminal charges.
So performative. It means nothing, does nothing and he continues to pretend like he did nothing wrong. He puts his family first — garbage. He is a horrible human being and he’s never suffered the consequences for it.
I would like to see Andrew lose ALL privileges and be cut free from the royal family. As for the Royal Lodge he should leave and put his name on the uk social housing list to live in a one-bedroom flat and have to fend for himself.
Doesn’t this mean that the princesses are now no longer Yorks as well so its Euge Mountbatten-Windsor or Bea Mountbatten-Windsor? Or maybe he still retains the titles but will just not use them, so the York sisters remain the Yorks? Very confusing!!
They are still grand children of a monarch, so they keep the princess titles as Andrew remains a prince and Fergie as a divorced woman would keep her husband’s name and titles, be interesting to see what she does. I wonder if she could stay DOY as she was when they divorced or will she be Princess Andrew. Diana retained the POW title after she divorced.
If Andrew can’t use duke of York his ex cannot use duchess of york.The stipulation was that she would be called Sarah Ferguson now
Sarah Ferguson is no longer princess Andrew; she is only that as a married woman to prince Andrew. Now that they’re divorced, she is simply Sarah Ferguson. The Duchess of York title retention was part of the divorce deal, but now that Andrew is giving Duke of York up, neither can she retain it.
They stopped using the York title when they got married. Also, Andrew agreed not to use the title. He didn’t relinquish the title! Facts later!
Right, this is what was confusing to me. It’s like he still retains all those titles but will just not use them, this announcement of “he is giving up titles” is just a blinder to confuse people. The reality is that Andrew isn’t really losing anything.
@Lawrenceville – To officially remove the royal dukedom from Prince Andrew would require an Act of Parliament and KCIII doesn’t appear to want to go down that route.
Per Tom Sykes, Beatrice and Eugenie are still both HRH Princess of York as Andrew was NOT stripped of his titles. He only agreed to quit using them.
Male line descendants bearing the title prince or princess are supposed to be Windsor not Mountbatten Windsor. However several of them have gone against that and used the Mountbatten.
Sarah could have used Sarah Windsor.
Beatrice and Eugenie already stopped being York’s when they married. Their husbands title (even if Mr) takes precedence over their fathers even if it’s lower. So the daughter of a duke who marries an Earl goes down in rank.
I believe that Elizabeth and Philip’s direct descendants with no other title use Mountbatten Windsor.
No, they remain princesses of York and their married titles come second: e.g., Princess Eugenie (of York) , Mrs. Jack Brooksbank.
British “aristo” protocol:
Sarah Ferguson married HRH The Prince Andrew. She became HRH The Princess Andrew. But Andrew is created “The Duke of York” upon his marriage and this title takes precedence, so Sarah becomes “HRH THE Duchess of York”. Upon divorce, she becomes “Sarah, Duchess of York”. no HRH, no “The” before the title. It has nothing to do with a divorce deal.
She remains “Sarah, Duchess of York”. It is the media idiots who have been confusing the public by referring to her as “The Duchess of York”. These are two different things.
It seems that the papers are well aware that the palaces CANNOT force Sarah to stop using her legal name as an ex-wife of an aristocrat (albeit a royal one), and so are attempting to shame her into doing so, by briefing that SHE will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson. She has not put out any statement to this effect, and Andrew’s statement did not mention her at all.
Now IF the government had decided to do away with the Dukedom of York then of course they would both lose any entitlement to use the name. However, as things stand, especially as Andrew remains very much The Duke of York, there is no way they can announce a change of name for Sarah without her input or acknowledgement. What this debâcle illustrates is that the so-called “royal experts” know nothing about the subject they claim to be experts in – they are simply a bunch of gossipmongers and liars depending on clicks for a living.
The girls were both born princesses because they are male-line grandchildren of a reigning Monarch. That cannot be changed…it’s laid out in Letters Patent that predate Queen Victoria. Andrew will always be a prince for the same reason…he is the grandchild AND child of reigning monarchs. As for Andrew’s peerage titles, he can’t “give them up”, and they can’t be taken from him, without an act of parliament. They are being held “in abeyance”, and Louis won’t be given the York title until Andrew dies.
I’m underwhelmed. He still denies everything. He is still Prince Andrew. Is Fergie still Princess Andrew, or did the divorce end that?
Fergie is ex wife she can’t be princess Andrew. Diana,could not use title princess Charles afyer her divorce
Diana kept the POW title.
Because Charles was not told he could not use prince of Wales title
Different situation. Diana would have lost the the title if she remarried.
@sunnyside
Diana lost the PoW title with her divorce. The title is linked to being married to the PoW. The public still called Diana Princess out of habit and love.
Camilla became the PoW with her marriage, but didn’t use it.
Diana couldn’t use HRH when she divorced, IIRC. She was Diana, Princess of Wales as a kind of compromise.
This is humiliating for Andrew, for sure, but he should absolutely face far more serious consequences, including losing his mansion and criminal investigations. This is the RF’s attempt to close the lid but it’s not enough and as such will only be a temporary measure. There are so many skeletons in their closets (largely of the financial kind, but who knows) and they just can’t count on the media to hush stories up the way they used to.
Diana, by her own choice, gave up her HRH.
Baytampa Diana has no choice. Charles did not want her to have the h r h
@Tessa
QEII wanted Diana to keep the HRH. However, CKIII did not want her to have the HRH so Diana negotiated to give up the HRH in exchange for a larger divorce settlement.
This whole deal was discussed on a major thread around four years ago.
Fergie will be Sarah Ferguson. No Duchess of York.
Maybe technically she would be Sarah, the Princess Andrew. But they’ve decided she’ll use Ferguson instead.
She can’t use “The Princess Andrew” because they are divorced. The dukedom was conferred on Andrew upon marriage.
Fergie is not princess Andrew and has not been since 1996
Stateside, she’s been Fergie in the tabs since the 80s. Since she doesn’t go to royal functions and everyone calls her Fergie, what diff does it really make?
Side story: When the Black Eyed Peas first broke, I had a running joke with a coworker “That’s not Fergie. It’s the Duchess of York!”
The princess of wales > divorced Diana, Princess of Wales
The duchess of York > divorced Sarah, duchess of York.
The Princess Andrew > divorced perhaps would be Sarah, Princess Andrew.
Lady Colin Campbell is still calling herself Lady Colin Campbell & she was married for all of, what? eight months or so?
Anyhoo, Andrew’s life continues as always, Virginia Giuffre is dead but not forgotten–I hope her book sells a gazillion copies.
And Happy No Kings Day! Let’s march!!
Wowza. Wonder if there will now be a few more articles without mentioning the Sussexes. Hope they will now stop coupling Harry’s name with Andrew’s: the pedophile. Someone is getting worried for this to have happened.
Nope. It’s going to increase now with the new thread of “Andrew did the right thing for the monarchy, when will Harry?”
Though Andrew won’t be using them, he hasn’t been stripped of them. Like mentioned, that would take an act of Parliament. This was voluntary and he still gets to keep all the perks, fancy home, etc.
As an American, I think these titles are downright silly but I hope Harry never gives his up. Make them come and take them, Harry! They’ll blink before it gets to that (opens the door for other titles to be stripped at Parliaments whims)
Andrew is wanted for a crime, Harry called out racism, which is not a crime. It is a good thing to do. The two should not be compared, the media don’t seem to understand the difference, they have no morals.
Saw the news and immediately came here. Giving up his titles, I man “no longer using his titles” isn’t enough. It is infuriating that the men in grey continue to push the thinking that Harry is the greater problem.
It would seem that he keeps all the honors and privileges of being mummy’s big boy, so IDK. Is he losing the HRH? I’m confused on that point. His daughters don’t have titles any more although they are so called “blood” princesses. Worse things have happened to more innocent people, for sure, but this is probably catastrophic by Andrew’s standards, so that’s something, I guess.
Nope, still hrh, still prince, still duke of york. he’s just not using the duke title anymore or the HRH.
His daughters still have titles they’re just not York’s anymore. HRH Princess Beatrice of York to HRH Princess Beatrice, Mrs Eduardo Mozzarella or whatever it is
Beatrice and Eugenie haven’t been “of York” since they married. It’s always that way.
Anne became the Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips (she was Princess Royal by the time she married Tim Laurence).
Alexandra went from Kent to Princess Alexandra, Mrs Angus Ogilvy
Beatrice became Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozilla
Eugenie became Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank
It’s meant to seem like a punishment but without parliament stripping him of the titles he still retains them he’s just not using it anymore.. does he still get to use the “oh so sacred” HRH I wonder 💭
So the title cannot be used by him but parliament would have to take it away and strip him of the title. It was bound to happen but I think he and fergie pushed the envelope by being front and center at the funeral and at other events. Otherwise he will still be at royal lodge and may still have option to have hunting parties.
To me this reads as nothing. He still has these titles he just can’t use them publicly and he hasn’t really done any engagements for a few years now. This is all just PR for the royal family. It really doesn’t mean anything. He wasn’t stripped of anything he is still a Duke.
Thank you! It says he won’t use them. That does not mean he “gave them up” or was “stripped of his titles.”
@Ginger: Exactly.
ITA, but that’s us. He’s accustomed to unmitigated privilege, so this probably is truly painful for him. No, not like being sex trafficked or murdered, but he’s a useless royal with no real titles who will be a laughing stock in the history books. Men like him don’t go to prison or face real justice, but we can assume he’s actually miserable right now. Is that something?
It’s something, and likely as much as we can expect from this generation of Windsor dynamics in the face of scandal. But I agree it isn’t enough.
That’s exactly right – legally, he still has the titles, he’s just agreed not to use them. And Andrew will care about that enormously. But it gives the impression of the royal family having “done something” to address the issue without actually having the titles taken away (which would have to go before Parliament). It’s cosmetic, and no, it’s not enough.
The UK press today is covered in yet more scandal about Andrew (for example, that he put pressure on the police to investigate his victim’s background, which is a huge abuse of privilege on his part), so it’s clear that this announcement about “giving up” the titles was just an overdue and inadequate attempt to deflect from the latest shitshow which they knew was coming.
I’m still confused? So is he still Prince Andrew? Just not hrh Prince Andrew and not the Duke of York? Or is he truly just Andrew. And does he truly not have them if parliament didn’t strip them? He’s just not using them? And here we go into an endless debate on titles and stylings and etc.
He’s giving up “Duke of York” and the honors. I think people will still call him Prince Andrew.
He is still the Duke of York, he has just promised not to use the title. Only Parliament can take them, but I expect the Duchy will revert back to the crown when he dies.
The Duchy of York will revert back to the crown on the death of Andrew as Andrew has no son to inherit the duchy.
The Duchy of York cannot pass to or through a female.
The only actual change is that Andrew resigned from the Order of the Garter. His resignation was accepted and he’s out for good.
oh he’s still Prince Andrew. the statement makes that very clear. He’s not giving that up. He’s just not using Duke of York or hrh (which he hasn’t used in a few years now anyway.)
They cannot take his princely title away from him because he is the son of a monarch, i.e. a “blood prince”. Same with Prince Harry.
Here’s my understanding: One of us screwed up at work, but we’re not getting fired. They need us to acknowledge the screw up. We’re keeping our window office and current salary, but we’re taking a lower title. It feels demeaning and we’re not happy about it, but it isn’t changing very much.
I hope this doesn’t embolden them to keep up the pressure on Harry and Meghan. Because in their minds, moving to a different continent and writing a book is totally the same as abusing children.
They don’t think moving to another continent, writing a book, being financially independent, and living peacefully under a tree while booked and busy is worse than abusing sex trafficked children.
They think it’s worse. So, so much worse.
After all, the peasants, even if they’re not British, are sex trafficked children, and held in virtual slavery by your pdf BFF, should be honored to have sex with (read: raped by) an actual British prince who absolutely does not sweat, right?
But Harry and Meghan prove every day that not only is it possible, but it’s achievable even preferable to live outside the royal bubble, do the things that royals “should” be doing: like charities, philanthropy, giving attention to worthwhile causes. You don’t need a king or courtiers or even the approval of the british media to (paraphrasing my MVP:) Be good and do good.
Much as it pains me to mention H + M in a thread about Andrew, I must say that the royal reporters know that they won’t dare to touch H in that way. Several of them, especially that Dickie Arbiter person, have stated that it would not be desirable, because of they “force” H to stop using “Duke of Sussex” then he would just be “Prince H” and “Americans” would not say “Princess H” for his wife, they would instead say “Princess M” and the haters DEFINITELY do not want that. See the convulsions they had when Tyler Perry tweeted “Happy Birthday Princess Meghan”, and the way they froth at the mouth each time a supporter writes or says “Princess” in reference to M, even though it’s clear that her own husband sees her that way and understands that many people see her that way (see one of his Invictus interviews). 🙂
So if they begin to bleat about H +M it will be performative only, and for clicks, because they don’t want that at all.
And yes, to everyone saying that Andrew has not given up a damn thing. He is doing exactly what he has always done. Everyone – especially the newspapers – have been using “Prince Andrew” for years, that’s not going to change. As a divorced woman, his ex-wife became Sarah, Duchess of York (as opposed to THE Duchess of York before the divorce), even though in the past couple of years many ignorant reporters have been referring to her as the latter and using “The Duke and Duchess of York” as though they were still married. She remains Sarah, Duchess of York and to be honest, if she wishes to continue to use that style, she can – they cannot stop her. I suspect that like the Greek royals, people will simply say “the former Duchess of York” (as they did “The former King Constantine of Greece”).
But yep, last night, it was obvious who the stenographers were: all the ones who gleefully printed that he had been STRIPPED of his titles, despite the clear statement from the man.
And? So he won’t be in public going to church – what a hypocrit anyway – and won’t be seen with the rf. Nothing material changes. He’s a known snob, of course he’ll still be DoY in private. He still HAS the title.
BTW Sarah Ferguson still uses Duchess of York on the book covers. As recently as 2024. Sarah Ferguson and underneath Duchess of York. I just checked Amazon because I was sure she did. Btw the funniest gossip about her recently was the snide comment about her paying ghost writers poorly for the dreck books. Lol I love the ghost writer tidbit.
This article in general is way, WAY too generous to all involved.
The RF said he won’t be invited to Christmas but he will, he just won’t do the walk. He will still be invited to things privately no doubt
I hope he has to use the back door.
Exactly, that’s why I wrote seen with. He’ll be there. The royals have been besties with p#dos and criminals forever and let’s not forget Mountbatten. He’s so gross and still lying about it. The press are also covering it up by linking him to Harry.. Disgusting.
If he’s not invited to Christmas its bc Charles doesn’t like him anyway.
But if that means Beatrice skips the walk…..its starting to look a little thin there on Christmas morning (and Eugenie, but I don’t think she’s there as regularly as Beatrice is.)
@becks1 that’s right. But if Charles doesn’t like him, it’s not because of this reason. Charles grew up around p#dos and was friends with several well known ones. Charles just may not like him, which is fine.
@Smartone99 – And let’s not forget KCIII’s relationship with the British paedophile Jimmy Saville.
Oh, the humanity! No Christmas walk in front of the peasants?! However will he go on???
Kaiser:
So as he agreed 5 years ago to stop using his titles and honorary titles. He agreeing to the exact same thing again? And it was the media who still called him Duke of York .. it was Charles who let him go to the Order of whatever service, right. But now that the book is out soon, emails been revealed, that Andrew is reminding people of the deal he made 5 years ago. OK GOT IT
Exactly!
This! Absolutely nothing has changed.
This just feels very performative. So now we don’t call him by a title but he’s not going to actively take part in any criminal investigation or answer any questions? Okay. And he gets to still live a life of luxury. Okay. I’m sure it’s embarrassing and it hurts him because these are things that he prioritizes but in the scheme of things and the horrendous nature of what he’s accused of not being able to use a title is not a big deal.
For a few of the other questions that I’ve seen in other comments, Buckingham Palace noted that Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice would not lose their titles as they are the grandchildren of a monarch. And he is still prince Andrew because he is the child of a monarch. Which is why I say this is a big load of nothing.
I’m sure William will be briefing all weekend though about how he was deciding factor, or he was consulted and was a driving force. And I’m sure there’s going to be a bunch of now and do the Sussexes, because of course earning your own money and living a continent away is the same as this reprehensible man.
Be interesting to see how often they manage to bring in Harry’s name in articles about Andrew.
I hope Bulliam does claim credit for this big nothing burger, because it will come back to bite him in the a$$. Nothing’s changed except for no longer wearing fancy costumes at Garter ceremonies.
You know what goes great with this news? The As Ever Sauvignon Blanc.
Comment of the week!
Love it! ha ha
A toast to EPLFan! 🍷
He’s not giving anything up. The title won’t be used; there is nothing about giving up or revocation. It’s just to make it seem like Charles did something when in reality nothing changes. I bet he’s still a Knight of the Garter too.
He has given up the garter and the other one he had.
Big deal! He’s still living the life when he should be in prison. I read an excerpt from Virginia Giuffre’s book in The Guardian and it was nauseating. Andrew’s Prince title can’t be taken away so they should make him change his first name to scumbag. Prince Scumbag would be appropriate for him.
Virginia Giuffre’s family released a statement saying they are pleased with this but also want Charles to strip him of his “Prince” title as well:
https://people.com/prince-andrew-gives-up-royal-duties-virginia-giuffre-family-reaction-11832083
This seems like a great idea.
Well, Virginia’s family were the problem and now I’m sure are benefiting from the massive payout. The husband sounds pretty awful too. The only innocents in this mess other than Virginia are the children. After reading stories about Brittany, I’m seeing parallels. A lot of parallels.
They can’t take away the prince, he is still the son of a monarch.
In the grand scheme, obviously this is not justice for Virginia. But this stuff is *hugely important* to Andrew. He’ll be miserable about it & sometimes, the best you can get is bad people being miserable.
I’ll toast Virginia–without her courage & determination, this would not have happened. I hope he feels his world is ending. He deserves it.
Absolutely. Her family says they are pleased that any of the powerful men who were involved in the Epstein scandal are suffering repercussions, because so far none have.
It doesn’t bring Virginia back but it’s no coincidence that Andrew is enduring this humiliation two days after her book excerpt was published by the guardian.
She will continue to haunt him from the grave.
It’s what he deserves, but I hope she found peace instead.
This will upset fergie who had the title without h r h as part of divorce settlement.
And she still uses it, even though they’re saying she doesn’t. Look at a book cover!
That was before this announcement
Most if not all of her publishers and charities dropped her after that email came out when she was obsequiously apologizing to Epstein after public denouncing him. So there’s not much she can do with the title anymore anyways. But from reading the comments, it sounds like she still technically has it and the royal reporters are saying she can’t use it, but unlike Andrew, has not out a statement saying one way or another. If I’m understanding correctly.
My eyes almost rolled back in my head and stayed there while trying to read his carefully negotiated statement. According to his statement, he has always put his family and country first? He continued his seedy relationship with a known criminal. He continued to lie about that relationship. He has continually embarrassed his family. His served in the military and did his duty there. I’ll give him that.
The problem is the monarchy is built on the lie that they are better than everyone else. Lies are all they know. So many lies to keep up the charade when the truth is they are pretty disgusting and despicable people.
It’s interesting to see how the British press is reporting this. Members of the royal rota are saying Andrew has given up his title. Non-royal rota are saying that Andrew has not been stripped of his title he just won’t use it. Those who are not part of the rota are telling the truth.
It would require an act of Parliament to strip him of the title, and Parliament has better things to do with its time. I wonder what Sarah will do.
The Guardian also pointed out that getting an Act of Parliament passed would take a long time (and garner masses of publicity) and really, the RF just want all of this – and Andrew – to go away as quickly and quietly as possible.
@sunnyside up: I know Parliament is the only one who can strip titles. I’m just pointing out that the royal press is being obtuse and not telling the truth about what Andrew has actually done. He is still the Duke of York in private.
I listened to a podcast and their theory was this is all a fast clean up so the pedo brother doesn’t overshadow chucks photo op with Pope Leo. Which is probably the absolute truth because this isn’t a punishment it is a “sleight of hand” con.
Great. CandC visiting the Vatican, headquarters of an organization chock full of pedophiles and sexual abuse.
I wonder how much Chuck paid for this?
Of course he still denies this. Shameless.
As with everything else the BRF does this is all about how things look with no substance behind it
Andrew continues to function as a great distraction from the scandals and crimes of other members of the Firm. Which of course begs the question: what is he *really* distracting attention from? One shudders to think.
And yes, Paedrew is “giving up” the USE OF his title of Duke of York and his standing as a Knight of the Garter. Yippy fking skippy.
He’s not giving up Cousellor of State. He’s not giving up his place in the line of succession. He’s not giving up his title of Prince.
He’s not giving up his palatial home or the “mysterious” income stream that pays for his giant manor and the luxurious lifestyle he & his live-in ex-wife (now no longer to be known as Sarah, Duchess of York, but simple Sarah Ferguson, oh dear poor sausage) enjoy each and every day.
His daughters are still Princesses and still in the line of succession, despite never having even so much as said they are unhappy with their father’s open connections with rapists and child traffickers, let alone distanced themselves from their terrible parents.
And not for nothing, but the Princesses, particularly Beatrice, have clearly taken up Andrew’s mantle as contacts, go-betweens, and accepters of dubious monies and perquisites from foreign representatives and countries interested in buying access and honors from the BRF.
In short, NOTHING has been taken from Paedrew or his family, and he has voluntarily given up a couple of names that have absolutely ZERO EFFECT on his actual life.
Oh, excuse me, I’m wrong. Andrew and Fergie MIGHT be excluded from some of the official Royal Christmas celebrations. Now that’s a punishment for the ages!!
This is not this openly unrepentant user and abuser of young girls and the public trust suffering consequences.
This is an insult and a slap in the face to every woman and child he has used for sex, and every citizen of the UK and the Commonwealth who is expected to overlook his high crimes and misdemeanors.
🎯… but it makes for good copy.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
They’re probably thrilled because otherwise their punishment this year was that maybe they were going to have to attend Kate’s Christmas concert!
Andrew Windsor is still Prince Andrew. Born Prince Andrew and will likely die that way.
One of the arguments against stripping Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their titles is that they would remain Prince Harry and Princess’s Henry. Sarah lost her title because it was a gift to her by way of Andrew.
Prince Andrew, the York princess, Prince Harry titles are Letter of Patent
When a woman divorces she keeps her married name and any titles unless she chooses to give them up. Diana continued to be called The Princess of Wales.
Diana would have lost that title had she remarried. Charles never was forbidden to be called prince of Wales. If Andrew cannot use duke of York certainly his ex can’t call herself duchess of York.
Please correct this article! He hasn’t given up anything he is just not using all his titles in public just like his statement says. Max Foster clarified this. The rota are manipulating words.
Everything is still there for him in private. He hasn’t done public work in years so this doesn’t actually hurt him.
But it does give Charles good PR as he heads to Italy to meet with the pope around the same time as virginias book drops. And yes Charles is for sure giving him so money behind the scenes
So he’s not using his titles because “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.” Not because he’s a terrible pedo and a terrible human being. If Charles had any backbone, which he doesn’t, he would have negotiated adding something in the statement along the lines of “concern for the young girls and women who were victims” (I realize that hoping for contrition is unrealistic).
When Andrew issued his statement about stepping back from royal duties several years ago, his statement was from “HRH The Duke of York, KG (Knight of the Garter).” I felt that listing all his titles and honors on the statement was horrible and I’m glad that he is voluntarily giving them up.
That said, it’s only a start. Maybe he needs to join King Emeritus Juan Carlos of Spain in a self-imposed exile in the Middle East…
What a bunch of baloney. He belongs in jail.
Unfortunately, Trump’s FBI has no interest in prosecuting anyone associated with Epstein.
Bets for how long before he starts using the titles again? I’m going for approximately 3 years, once they think it’s all died down.
How stupid do these people think everyone else is? He loses nothing. He doesn’t have to face any investigation. He makes a statement that is worthless. But that’s what people want, isn’t it? They would rather destroy innocent people so that the suspects are safe. What a disgusting charade.
#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles
I guess we will see if now ‘stripping someone of their titles’ severs, in the mind of rhe public, that person’s connection to the Royal Family and makes them magically invisible to the media going forward. I’m guessing ‘no’ and also feeling quite insulted to be treated as if it were the case.
Charles and William have no jurisdiction to punish Andrew for anything, it appears that they both quite dislike him and wish to publically humiliate him but the idea that doing this (which spotlights their feuding) is *not* distracting from their ‘work’ is delusional. If he’s still in Royal Lodge why would the stories about that, which the tabloids prefer to reporting on the families ‘work’, stop? Republicans are bothered by the Epstein revelations but the Royalists (and go to any story about Mountbatten or the Duke of Windsor and see how ‘who cares? it’s in past’ dominates the reader responses) are more interested in the family feud storyline so that’s not going anywhere?
A woman kicking off her shoes in her car can distract from their ‘work’? And not because she has a title, but because they have indicated to the press and public that she’s a legitimate target for surveillance and criticism (whatever she does and whatever we call her). They would rather have a designated villain out there drawing fire than people beginning to ask what the point of the rest of them is. Andrew makes having Charles as King seem like we dodged a bullet.
The genuine issue that Andrew represents still exists? He had all his honours and use of all his titles at the time he engaged in the behaviour unbecoming (principally that was ‘getting caught’) – that is the issue. They can do nothing to *him* about that now. The only meaningful thing they can do, actually, is to have fewer privileges for those who remain, and more transparency, so that *they* can never do the same. There’s no concession here that having people with privileges and titles such as Andrew had might itself be the problem because of course that then means we have to consider *them* as well as him and both William and Charles are very much believers in the idea that other people can be served up as sacrifices on their behalf to deflect attacks coming all their the ways.
This is like hoping that people will ignore an ongoing car crash just because we’ve rebranded it ‘just part of the road’.
And their propaganda about being a family? And valuing loyalty above all else? That’s what they have chipped away. What has doing this proven except that its difficult if not impossible not be associated to someone you are related to especially if you are saying that what makes you special is the same thing that makes them special? All they do is affirm that conferring privilege based on descent is a bad idea. Is there any sign that William will be more robust with his children than the late Queen was with hers? No, in fact, he’s made a virtue of indulging them, in particular, over his ‘service’ to the nation.
I actually think that this was done *not* so that Andrew will ‘no longer distract’ (and let’s recall that one of the reasons he managed to get into this trouble in the first place is because for the last 20 or so years he has been what the press call ‘quietly getting on with duties under the radar’ that is conducting himself with almost complete impunity because the media had zero interest in scrutinising him and holding him to account) but precisely so he *would* distract, especially from William and Kate, who were facing a weekend of calls to explain why they were so lazy, and make William seem like a big man who has taken a tough decision for the benefit of the nation.
There is no way it won’t revive, short term, the talking point about ‘stripping’ Harry, even if in the medium to long term it would prove that there would be no point. It’s red meat for weekend for the Derangers (although hopefully they also note that Harry’s kids would keep all titles and Archie would still become Duke of Sussex if the same were done to them) and that’s why I expect William played a big part. I wonder if Royalists genuinely cheering this think that the family will be made stronger than ever ultimately by William having thrown the father of his cousins (who are half in already but who the media want fully in so they can get more baby pics) under the bus, effectively stripping their mother of her title and signalling a willingness to undermine their branch’s legitimacy?
Excellent post.
Charles negotiated and still let Andrew stay in the lodge.
Scooter taking credit is a farce. He had pictures taken of Andrew walking to church with keen and the children. I hope scooter is not let off the hook for his laziness and getting all the properties he can.
In this case they negotiated something with Andrew to pressure him into accepting not to use his title as he’s stripped of nothing. There’s zero reason for Harry to agree to the same deal as there’s no real leverage. So the derangers get nothing out of this. They can’t strip Harry of his title and they can’t bully him into not using it.
Even Sarah CAN still use her title which she does in her books, unless she’s negotiated not to.
The email is already cooling the bombshell to reorder its readers’ thoughts so they don’t get any strange ideas, so: Windsors are good, exiles are bad. On the sidelines, a list of articles in strict order.
Andrea’s step back is thanks to the hero William, who is the driving force of the supreme good.
Then there’s the hag, stupid, aimless, and directionless, everyone says so.
The hag needs the prince to avoid making a fool of herself, and the prince himself is a humiliation to himself. Because they’re stupid and bad. Not like the rugby player who insists on letting us know, just today, that joining the good family is fantastic, everyone is friendly and loves him. It’s understood that if others didn’t do well, it was their fault. God save the monarchy and the weekend
I’m waiting for the day when Andrew publishes his memoir which will surely come when William is King if he pushes Andrew too far. Andrew has a lot of secrets to tell, I imagine.
The sex offender might not be able to splash his title all over the paperwork and promo he does as part of his sleazy grifting, but I’m betting that on all the official documents and releases from the BRF, we will still see him listed as HRH Prince Sleaze, The Duke of York as that is still his legal title. Let’s see if they even bother to change the way he is styled on their line of succession page.
Not defending Andrew at all, but, regarding VG, putting on my lawyer’s hat, what did he pay his American lawyers for? Under no circumstance, should VG, nor her family, nor any descendants for all time be able to release any book naming him, or by inference, naming him. Seriously, that is settlement 101 – you settle for various reasons, but one of them is to avoid damage to public reputation.
Whilst Andrew’s position became increasingly untenable and embarrassing, the idea is irresistible that this is a distraction from the heir’s laziness and move into FL, the Wales’ new forever 6th home. Methinks a deal was done. Get W&K off the front pages and out of Republic’s sights.
Exactly what my neighbor said this a.m.. Andrew has been thrown under the bus to deflect attention from something e!se, something more important than punishing a sex offender.
Virginia refused, plain and simple. She and her lawyers insisted that she still be allowed to publish her story. The settlement was basically a way to kick the can down the road for a while and hope that the story somehow just went away – not impossible, given how these things usually go with powerful men. I think Andrew also hoped to discredit his victim for having taken the money and thought he could paint her as a liar. I think his American lawyers did exactly what they were paid to do – stop the royal family from appearing in headlines along with the name Epstein, keep Andrew from having to cooperate with law enforcement and buy them all some time to try and discredit Virginia’s story.
It’s being reported that VG did in fact sign a gagging order but it was valid for only one year. This was to protect QEII’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in 2022.
In the same way that Camilla WAS Princess of Wales but chose not to use the title (and went by Duchess of Cornwall instead), Andrew remains Duke of York – he is simply reiterating that he will go by Prince Andrew instead, same as he has been doing for years.
But such is the state of the British media. Despite the statement put out in Andrew’s name, the press people pushed out the narrative via their WhatsApp groups that “Andrew has been STRIPPED of his titles!” because this is the headline they wanted to be picked up by media around the world. Someone online started a countdown to the same media giving William credit for being “decisive” in forcing this issue and I can see it coming… even though nothing has changed.
And it seems that many have fallen for it. To think that the British media has sunk SO low, compared to how highly they were rated when I was a child. No wonder reading comprehension among England’s (not Scotland’s or Wales’) high school students and many adults has become so poor.
He absolutely gave nothing up. Literally. He is simply not using them. This is a whole lot of nothing. He has all of those titles and is still all of those things…he’s not going to use them. Why do people keep saying he gave his titles up? He didn’t. He said he was going stop using them. So…he still lives on Windsor Castle grounds, is still a duke and all those other things, but just…won’t call himself those things out loud or in correspondence. It’s truly a whole lot of nothing. Nothing at all changes for him or affects his life.
They bank on people saying he gave them up and running with it, on so easily being able to manipulate the way people perceive things. Don’t let them. Say it at as is.
Charles made the deal with Andrew though lawyers. Scooter can claim credit or try to but the king called the shots
If I had to guess, I think that Andrew, his brother, and the men in grey have been negotiating this deal for a long time. There have been many stories behind the scenes about Andrew and his lease on royal lodge, as well as what role he and his family will play in public and private events. The exact timing seems curious, though, and suggests to me that either the reaction to Virginia’s memoir was bigger than initially thought or more is about to come out about Andrew’s correspondence with his felon friend.
Otherwise, I think any media consultant would have advised this news to be released closer to a Half-term or Thanksgiving, when it is less likely to make a splash. To me, it feels like this agreement was made and then put on a shelf for release in the media in a sort of “break glass in case of emergency” maneuver, to use when the legal mess and scandal around Andrew reached a certain threshold. But why now?
Virginia’s memoir has already come out. The email correspondence between the Yorks and Epstein is starting to come out, and hopefully if the American Congress ever sits again more will be revealed. You would think that the smart move would be to quietly put it out over the summer that Andrew was stepping even more back by “relinquishing” his titles, even though he’s not, really. I guess the Windsors are hoping to throw something to the masses to performatively “punish” Andrew and hope that they can successfully make people look the other way.
Andrew isn’t giving up anything. Andrew is just offering to not USE his titles. Titles that he still has but won’t USE isn’t him giving up anything. The verbiage in his statement very specifically says that he will not USE his Duke of York title (and a few other titles) because he isn’t relinquishing those titles that can only be taken away from him by parliament. This is no different from when the royals and media played with the words royals or HRH when it came to Harry and Meghan. They are still royals, have their dukedoms and they both still retain their HRHs but they have agreed to not use their HRHs or their dukedoms for monetary gains, which they have maintained ever since the left the UK. Besides, Andrew already hasn’t used his dukedom in years because he hasn’t worked since before the Queen passed away and the only ones referring to him by that title, have been the UK media.
It took patient work to rehabilitate Andrea and even the revived Sarah, who had atoned for her sins by fighting cancer, gradually bringing him out of the shadows, one funeral at a time, one horse race at a time, one photo at a time. God only knows how useful two more extras would have been to a monarchy not slimmed down, indeed anorexic, till date to that wretched “supreme friend.”
The monarchy tries to survive itself, sometimes by hiding members of the clan, sometimes by dissociating them, but never by demanding their exile, because loyalty to the institution, not to laws or morals, is always recognized.