King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of All Royal Titles in Historic Move
In an extraordinary and unprecedented decision, King Charles III has officially stripped his brother, Prince Andrew, of all royal titles and honors — including the right to be called “Prince.” The announcement, made by Buckingham Palace on Thursday, October 30, 2025, marks a historic moment in modern royal history and signals a clear break from decades of quiet leniency surrounding Andrew’s controversies.
According to the official statement, “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
The decision means Andrew, 65, will no longer be referred to as “His Royal Highness,” nor will he retain the title of Duke of York, a name that has defined him for much of his public life. His honors in the Order of the Garter and the Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order are also being rescinded. In addition, he will lose his long-held residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where he has lived for years under a royal lease.
Buckingham Palace stated that formal notice has been served to end Andrew’s lease and that he will move into private accommodation. The statement added, “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
King Charles’s decision is both symbolic and deeply personal. As the reigning monarch, he has exercised his Royal Prerogative — the sovereign’s constitutional authority to manage titles and honors without consulting Parliament. While rare, this power gives the King the right to revoke privileges from any member of the royal family.
Sources close to the palace report that the move had the full backing of the royal family, including Prince William, the Prince of Wales. Many see the action as a step toward preserving the monarchy’s integrity in the face of ongoing public scrutiny.
Andrew’s fall from grace has been long and public. Once celebrated as the Queen’s favored son and a decorated naval officer, he has been embroiled in controversy since his association with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light. Although Andrew has consistently denied allegations of sexual misconduct, the damage to his reputation has been irreversible.
In 2019, following a disastrous BBC interview addressing his relationship with Epstein, Andrew stepped back from royal duties. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his military titles and royal patronages after a U.S. judge refused to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre. Andrew later settled the case out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Now, with his royal identity formally revoked, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor becomes the first senior British royal in more than a century to lose all titles — the last being Prince Ernest Augustus in 1917.
The palace concluded its statement by emphasizing that the King and Queen’s thoughts “remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
For many observers, the decision marks not just the end of Prince Andrew’s royal life, but a defining moment of accountability within the modern monarchy.