Prince Andrew newest: Andrew to lose his prince title and transfer out of Royal Lodge | EUROtoday

It will need to have been very troublesome for the King to strip his brother of his titles and Royal Lodge residence, Conservative Party chief Kemi Badenoch says.

Speaking on LBC Radio, she stated: “I’ve been following this story more about a family. It’s a very sad state of affairs.

“I think that the King has clearly felt that this is the right decision for the royal family. It must have been a very difficult thing for him to have done. I mean, having to do that to your own brother.

“But the standards and expectations in society now are very high. People expect to see the very highest levels of integrity.

“And I’m afraid the whole Jeffrey Epstein saga and everyone it has touched, from Prince Andrew to Peter Mandelson, has just shown that the public has no truck whatsoever with any kind of sexual abuse, sexual offences, especially of minors. And I think that that’s quite right.”

Prince Andrew will now be referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, after being stripped of his titles and honours, Buckingham Palace says.

Mountbatten-Windsor combines the royal household’s House title of Windsor and Prince Philip’s adopted surname of Mountbatten.

Prince Andrew will transfer to a property on the Sandringham Estate, it’s understood.

Any future lodging shall be privately funded by the King.

Andrew’s peppercorn lease on Royal Lodge had been beneath scrutiny by MPs and the general public.

Formal discover has been served on Andrew to give up his lease on the Royal Lodge in Windsor, Buckingham Palace stated in an announcement.

“His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence,” the palace stated.

“Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”

Buckingham Palace says the King has initiated a proper course of to take away Prince Andrew’s titles and honours.

It stated the method would take away the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”.

He would now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £50,000 for its legal action against Prince Andrew.

Funders have already given almost £5,700.

The group stated: “A private prosecution has the same power as when the police prosecute an alleged criminal.

“It is not easy to do and costs money, but Republic is keen to ensure that credible accusations against Prince Andrew are met with proper accountability and a sense of justice for the alleged victims and the wider public.”

Four out of five Brits want Prince Andrew to be formally stripped of his dukedom, a poll from YouGov revealed.

The prince has already announced his intention to stop using the Duke of York title – but only an Act of Parliament can remove it officially.

The survey showed that 63 per cent of nearly 6,700 adults questioned were “strongly” in favour of formal removal of the dukedom and 17 per cent “somewhat” supporting the idea, while 6 per cent were opposed to it – 4 per cent somewhat and 2 per cent strongly – and 14 per cent did not know.

Last week, cabinet minister Peter Kyle on Tuesday urged Andrew to cooperate with the US authorities and give evidence about Epstein’s crimes.

In 2020, a federal investigator accused Andrew of providing “zero cooperation” with the US inquiry into Epstein and his conspirators, despite having promised that he was willing to help when he stood down from public duties in 2019.

Business secretary Mr Kyle urged him to stick to his word, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think anybody that has any information that could bring justice and information to victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes should be fully engaging with any of the authorities that are seeking to deliver that information and justice for the victims.”

He added: “Those victims must be first, and they must be central to how we discuss and debate any of these issues relating to the Jeffrey Epstein … situation, and the crimes he committed. So of course, anybody, anywhere that has information that can deliver that justice should be sharing it openly.

“I believe that Andrew, in the past, has said that he would cooperate, and I urge him to stick to his word on that.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick agreed that Andrew should give evidence to the US authorities “about what he knew and what his involvement was” in the scandal.