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prince andrew She gave up her royal titles on Friday, but experts believe this was a wise move by the British royal family to “avoid being overshadowed by vulgar behavior”.
On Friday, Mr Andrew issued a statement shortly after excerpts from his forthcoming posthumous memoir were published. Virginia Giuffreshe claimed to have been trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and had a sexual relationship with Andrew when she was 17 years old.
“After discussions with the King and my immediate family, I have come to the conclusion that continued accusations about me will interfere with the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” a statement released by the royal family and obtained by Fox News Digital said. “As always, I have decided to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to step back from public life.”
Prince Andrew returns royal title with support from King Charles
Experts suggest that Prince William forced Prince Andrew out to protect the monarchy. (Getty Images)
“With His Majesty’s consent, we feel we must go a step further,” the statement continued. “Therefore, I will no longer use my title or the honor bestowed on me. As I have stated previously, I strongly deny the charges against me.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that it was crucial for the royal family to make this decision.
“It was essential for this to happen. Very soon there would have been a situation where whatever the monarchy did was overshadowed by vulgarity.”
“It was essential for this to happen. It would have quickly gotten to the point where anything the monarchy had done would be overshadowed by vulgarity. When emails came in proving he had been lying about his chronology, Relationship with Epstein Since it was published, this was somehow inevitable.
Prince Andrew and Prince William in September 2025. (Max Manby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“Fortunately Congress did not get involved, but public disgust may have reached the expected level.”
Mr Fitzwilliams continued: “This should allow him to take control of his life rather than clinging to honors that he clearly doesn’t deserve. He may protest his innocence, but when he lacks public support at the polls and has run out of options, he will have no choice but to relinquish the title and the Garter.”
Prince Andrew has renounced his title as Duke of York. Prince Andrew’s title has been revoked since 2019. (Steve Parsons/Getty Images)
A royal expert believes Mr Andrew has been “forced out”.
“I think he was kicked out, but him and sarah ferguson We will face more scandals. They were “in the fight together,” to coin a phrase in an email to Epstein that would come to haunt Andrew. “A posthumous memoir to be published next week shows that Virginia Giuffre accomplished in death what she was unable to accomplish in life,” he concluded.
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that Andrew is trying to reclaim his “last honor.”
Prince Andrew said he had given up his royal title with the support of Charles III. (Max Manby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“While we’d like to think he’s finally done something decent, this is really just him trying to salvage the last bit of honor he can with the avalanche of public anger against him,” she said. “Better late than never!”
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Mr Fordwich continued: “He will never again be seen in public with senior royals. Prince William is the force behind all of this and he is right. Prince William takes a much longer-term view of the viability, reputation and indeed existence of the monarchy.”
She noted that the damage Andrew had done to the monarch was “literally more than all the other scandals combined.”
“Prince William is the force behind all of this, and he’s right. Prince William takes a much longer-term view of the monarchy’s viability, its reputation, and its actual existence.”
A 2001 photo included in court documents shows Prince Andrew with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre’s waist. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)
Fordwich said: “His lack of apology is beyond despicable! He should disappear completely now and never be heard of or seen again.”
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that Andrew announced his royal title before the book was released, further fueling speculation that there was “no smoke without fire”.
“And there’s fire all over the royal family over this issue,” he said.
“I think the whole British public would be shocked by these stories and I think King Charles encouraged his brother to make this decision to protect the interests of the royal family from further criticism,” Turner said.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have both been indicted on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from Epstein’s years of abuse of underage girls. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan, via Getty Images)
Royal expert Amanda Matta said Andrew has always denied the accusations against him.
“Today’s denial is even more difficult to accept given that the palace has previously distanced itself and the entire royal family from him,” she said.
“I don’t think it was Andrew’s idea to give up the title he was awarded. If not, why didn’t we see this action five years ago?” she continued. “His continued use of the word ‘prince’ suggests to me that he considers his birthright more important than being completely separated from the royal family.”
Matta said the move was seen as a “victory” for King Charles, as it enabled him to insulate his brother, something Queen Elizabeth was unable to do.
In her forthcoming memoir, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, Giuffre claims she had sex with Prince Andrew three times.
In August 2019, Virginia Giuffre was seen leaving a federal courthouse in New York. (Gina Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
She remembered Epstein’s right-hand woman. Ghislaine Maxwell After dinner, I told her to do to the prince what she had done to the financier.
“When we got back to the house, Maxwell and Epstein said goodnight and headed upstairs, signaling that it was time for me to take care of the prince,” she wrote. guardian. “In the years since then, I’ve thought a lot about his attitude. He was friendly enough, but still entitled, as if he believed it was his birthright to have sex with me.”
“I gave him a hot bath,” she continued. “We took off our clothes and got into the bathtub, but we didn’t stay there long because the prince wanted to go to bed. He paid special attention to my feet, caressing my toes and licking the arches of my feet. I was worried that the prince would want me to do the same, but I didn’t need to worry.He seemed to be in a hurry to have sex.Afterwards, he said thank you in a broken British accent. It all took less than 30 minutes.”
Virginia Roberts Giuffre has photos of herself as a teenager that she claims were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew and others. (Emily Michaud/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“The next morning, Maxwell said to me, ‘Well done, Prince, you had fun.'” Epstein would give me $15,000 to serve the man the tabloids dubbed ‘Randy Andy.’ ”
Following the news that Andrew lost the title, Giuffre’s family released a statement, telling FOX News Digital: virginia roberts giuffrewe believe Prince Andrew’s decision to relinquish his title is a vindication to our sister and to survivors around the world. 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. Furthermore, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to be stripped of his title of Prince. ”
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“This moment is a victory for Virginia, who has consistently maintained: ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and I know that only one of us is telling the truth, and that’s me.’ This is not just a victory for her, but for all survivors of the horrific crimes committed by Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
Prince Andrew said he was putting his family and country first by giving up his royal title. (Steve Parsons/Pool)
Giuffre’s family has pointed to recent email allegations between Epstein and Prince Andrew dating back to 2011, contradicting the royal family’s claims that they stopped communicating with Giuffre in 2010.
“We hope that the era of impunity for those in power is over and that protection of predators will no longer be tolerated,” the statement concluded. “We want a higher standard to be set for America’s serving leaders. We will continue to work tirelessly to live up to this standard. Now is the time for accountability, transparency, and justice for all survivors.”
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Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
