Andrew Windsor is officially a commoner after being stripped of remaining titles

Metro
by Sarah Hooper

King Charles has dealt a final blow to his younger brother, Andrew Mount-Batten Windsor, officially removing his last titles.

Andrew is no longer a member of the Order of the Garter, or a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order.

The Order of the Garter is the oldest order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, given to those who make ‘significant’ contributions to national life.

As for Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order, that title is given to those who conduct a personal service to the British Monarch.

Both of the titles have been erased from the register, in addition to his other titles, a month after he had the title of Prince revoked.

Andrew agreed on the titles being stripped in close consultation with both King Charles and the Prince of Wales, with the monarch said to be ‘glad’ at the outcome.

It’s thought that the Royal Navy could soon strip his title of vice-admiral in the force as well.

It comes after King Charles also evicted him from the Royal Lodge, where he lived for more than 20 years.

The disgraced royal will no longer be known as the Duke of York, or as a prince. He’s also been struck from the roll of peerage.

The change will mark a new era for the royal family, as it is unlikely the public will ever see Andrew next to the King or other senior royals again.

But despite his fall from grace, Andrew will still hold his place in the line of succession.

He remains eighth in line to the throne.

Andrew’s links to Epstein are explained

His Majesty’s younger brother faced major public outcry after his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the rape allegations made by Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend.

She alleged they trafficked her for Andrew when she was 17, which he has strenuously denied.

Andrew claimed that he met Epstein for the first time in 1999, when Ghislaine Maxwell introduced them.

He said in the BBC Newsnight interview: ‘I met through his girlfriend back in 1999, who… and I’d known her since she was at university in the UK, and it would be, to some extent, a stretch to say that as it were we were close friends.’

In 2019, the former Duke of York also made a statement to ‘clarify the facts’ around his ‘former association or friendship’ with Epstein.

He said: ‘During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences. At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.’

But, during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, jurors heard that in the mid-1990s, Andrew flew on Epstein’s private plane with a 14-year-old girl.

Have other Royals had their titles revoked?

Quite a few other members of the aristocracy have had their titles stripped, either by force or by voluntarily giving them up.

Prince Charles Edward was the grandson of Queen Victoria and first cousin of King George V. He moved to Germany with his family and later fought for the country in World War I.

As a result, under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917, he was stripped of all his British titles (which included Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, Baron Arklow). He remained in Germany for the remainder of his life and became involved with the Nazi Party.

One of the most famous title losses in recent British history is that of King Edward VIII.

He abdicated in December 1936 primarily because he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an American woman who had been divorced twice, and the British government, the Church of England, and the Dominions refused to accept her as Queen.

Queen II’s husband, who passed away the year before her own death in 2022, was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

A condition of marrying Princess Elizabeth, first in line to the thrown at the time, was to renounce his Greek and Danish titles. He was later given the title Duke of Edinburgh.

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