17 October 2025
Prince Andrew has confirmed he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York.
Prince Andrew has confirmed he will relinquish all of his royal titles including Duke of York
The disgraced 65-year-old, who has been mired in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal for years, made the announcement in a statement released on Friday (17.10.25), hours after reports he had held talks with King Charles about giving them up.
He 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.”
Charles is reportedly “glad” with the outcome.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 65, were given their titles Duke and Duchess of York on their wedding day in 1986 – and she will also drop her Duchess title.
Andrew remains Duke of York but the title will not be used and
he will not attend family celebrations for Christmas at Sandringham, according to The Sun.
Despite handing his royal titles back he will remain at Royal Lodge as he has a “cast iron” tenancy until 2078.
It follows a series of damaging revelations about Andrew’s continued contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Sun on Sunday reported the Duke of York was found to have lied about cutting ties with the disgraced financier, after an email surfaced in which he told Epstein: “We are in this together.”
The message, dated 29 February 2011, came just one day after the now-infamous photograph of Andrew with Virginia Giuffre was made public.
According to The Telegraph, the King met with his brother at Buckingham Palace earlier this week, after which Andrew agreed to give up his remaining royal titles.
Sources told the newspaper palace aides had reached “tipping point” and believed the monarchy had “no choice but to act” following the latest disclosures about Epstein.
The decision marks the most severe action yet taken against Andrew, who was stripped of his military titles, royal patronages and HRH style by Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022 after a US judge ruled he must face a civil sexual assault case brought by Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew later settled the case for an undisclosed sum without admitting liability and has consistently denied having sex with her.
Virginia, who died by suicide in April aged 41, is making posthumous claims in her forthcoming autobiography Nobody’s Girl, alleging she was trafficked to Andrew by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell as a teenager.
In the book, due to be released on 21 October, she reportedly writes Andrew viewed their encounters as his “birth right” and said “thank you” to her in a “clipped British accent”.
Virginia also claims Maxwell told her the morning after the alleged encounter: “You did well, the prince had fun.”
Earlier this year, Andrew was also linked to a separate controversy involving alleged contact with a Chinese spy.
Leaked documents from 2019 showed that he had met with Chinese officials, including Yang Tengbo, and sought to use his royal connections to raise £2.4 billion for an international technology initiative.
Security sources later described the relationship as a potential “threat to national security”.
