King formally removes Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's prince title and his HRH style by issuing Letters Patent.

King formally removes Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's prince title and his HRH style by issuing Letters Patent.

King Charles today formally stripped his brother Andrew of his prince title.

The monarch has also removed his HRH by issuing a rare Letters Patent, making his younger brother officially a commoner.

It marks another dark day for the former Duke of York, whose reputation is in tatters due to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and Virginia Giuffre's recent posthumous autobiography. 

Details of the King's Letters Patent have been published by the Crown Office in The Gazette, the UK's official public record.

The entry read: 'THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of 'Royal Highness' and the titular dignity of 'Prince'.'

It comes a week after Buckingham Palace confirmed the 65-year-old would no longer be a Prince with immediate effect - and would also be leaving the 30-bed Royal Lodge in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The Palace coldly announced the 'censures [were] deemed necessary' amid the growing controversy surrounding his relationship with Epstein, with whom Andrew lied about cutting ties with. 

The Mail on Sunday revealed how Andrew told Epstein in an email 'we are in this together' a day after the infamous picture of the former prince with his alleged then-teenage sex victim Ms Giuffre was published.

In the wake of the fallout, Ms Giuffre's family said she was 'an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family', who had 'brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.'

Meanwhile, new emails from unsealed court documents from a legal battle between the US Virgin Islands and JP Morgan show the former prince told Epstein it would be 'good to catch up in person' months after the child sex offender was released.

Andrew has continued to deny the allegations made against him as well as ever meeting Ms Giuffre, who made damning revelations about Mr Mountbatten Windsor in a posthumous memoir. She took her own life earlier this year, aged 41. 

In 2022, Andrew settled a US civil case she lodged for a reported £12million, reportedly receiving money from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to help meet the costs. The settlement came with no admission of liability.

The shunned ex-duke has been erased from the Royal website entirely, with no mention of him on 'The Royal Family' page or when the term 'Andrew' is entered into the search bar.

However, the website is yet to remove previous features relating to his old engagements.  

His Majesty's younger brother will now be banished to a private property on the monarch's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, but no further details have been shared. It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King's decision.

It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King's decision.

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

In one of the few positives for Andrew, he had been allowed to keep his operational service medals, including the one he won in the Falklands.

The disgraced royal served for 22 years in the Navy, including throughout the victorious campaign in the South Atlantic where he was the co-pilot of a Sea King helicopter.

He conducted anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation and search and rescue missions.

Andrew also played the role of a decoy for Argentina's Exocet missiles, flying over aircraft carriers to prompt anti-ship weapons.

Veterans of the war previously said it would be 'morally indefensible' to remove a medal earned through active service.

Meanwhile Andrew's daughters Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, will retain their titles as Her Royal Highnesses with it previously reported that Charles was very keen to 'protect' his nieces. 

However, royal expert Christopher Wilson told the Daily Mail today that King Charles's 'soft-hearted' approach to his nieces 'may come back to bite him' - and it may be up to Prince William to 'finish the job' when he becomes King later down the line.

As for Beatrice and Eugenie themselves, their princess titles will be 'tarnished in the eyes of many' due to their father and his links to Jeffrey Epstein, Mr Wilson claimed.

If opportunities dry up, the Princesses could be forced to accept more 'low-grade offers' like their mother, Sarah Ferguson, who, over the years has been accused of undertaking 'dubious' charity work and offering access to Prince Andrew for cash.

Tags: Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Louis, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Meghan, Lilibet

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