Prince Andrew to give up Duke of York title amid Epstein scandal

Prince Andrew is to stop using his remaining titles and honours, including the Duke of York, ahead of the publication of a new book about the Epstein scandal.

The latest development in the long-running controversy comes just days before the publication of a memoir by Andrew’s late alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, to whom he paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Andrew said that in discussion with King Charles and his immediate and wider family, they decided “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.

He will remain a prince, which he has been entitled to since birth.

“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,” he said.

“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. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

The King’s brother will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an act of parliament, but not use it.

He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and his garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

Sarah, Duchess of York, who split from the duke more than 30 years ago but remained one of his greatest supporters and still shares his Royal Lodge home, will revert to her maiden name Sarah Ferguson.

Andrew will no longer use the other titles given to him on his wedding day - the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh.

Ms Giuffre’s family says the move is “vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere”.

“This decisive action is a powerful step forward in our fight to bring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking network to justice,” the statement from Virginia’s brothers and sisters-in-law Sky and Amanda Roberts and Danny and Lanette Wilson read.

“Further, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to remove the title of Prince.”

Andrew stepped down from public life six years ago in 2019 after his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in which he said he “did not regret” his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who had trafficked Giuffre.

He was heavily criticised for failing to show sympathy with the sex offender’s victims.

The duke, reputedly Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite child, announced at the time he would be “stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future” and disappeared from a string of high-profile national events involving the monarchy.

He later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

Giuffre, who died at the age of 41 in April in Australia, was a central figure in the downfall of Epstein, who was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, New York, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

She alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17 in London and had been trafficked by Epstein, in New York, and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands during an orgy when she was around 18.

In an interview with BBC Panorama, she told how Andrew was “the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life” and “his sweat was ... raining basically everywhere”.

The duke has insisted he has no memory of a well-known photograph of him with his arm around Giuffre’s waist at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house.

Giuffre, whose book is due to be published on Tuesday, wrote in her memoir that Andrew acted as if sex with her was his “birthright”.