"I must now go a step further."
On October 17, 2025, following several allegations of sexual assault, Prince Andrew announced his decision to forsake his royal titles.
The third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Andrew will no longer be known as the Duke of York.
In recent years, Andrew has been at the centre of several scandals, including a court case he settled with Virginia Giuffre.
In 2014, Virginia alleged that when she was 17 years old, she was sex trafficked to Andrew by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew also faced questions regarding his finances and his apparent involvement with an alleged Chinese spy.
The prince had already given up being a ‘working royal’ and had lost his ‘His Royal Highness’ title.
While Andrew will continue to be a prince, he will not be the Duke of York.
His ex-wife will also be known as Sarah Ferguson and not the Duchess of York.
However, their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, will continue to hold titles of princesses.
In an official statement, Prince Andrew said:
“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.
“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Prince Andrew maintained that he had cut all his links with Epstein after they had been photographed together in New York in 2010.
However, emails from February 2011 suggested that Andrew had in fact continued private contact with the convicted sex offender.
A message read: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!”
Andrew’s key accuser Virginia took her own life on April 25, 2025.
Her memoir Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting For Justice is scheduled to be published posthumously on October 21, 2025.
Its release is likely to highlight the allegations against Andrew.
In January 2022, his mother Queen Elizabeth II removed Prince Andrew’s honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages.
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