London
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A fortnight in the past, he was Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
Now, he is solely Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
On Thursday night time, Buckingham Palace introduced that King Charles III had began a course of to strip his brother of his titles and honors and evict him from the royal property at Windsor, capping Andrew’s fall from grace over his ties to the convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. By the next morning, Andrew’s identify had already been faraway from the official position of the peerage – a vital step within the formal scrapping of his titles.
While the royal household hopes this transfer can draw a line below this years-long scandal, questions are swirling about where Andrew, 65, will stay, whether or not he may but face extra authorized troubles and whether or not his banishment will appease the British public. Here, we reply a few of these.
Where will Andrew sleep tonight?
Most seemingly in Royal Lodge, the grand 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, west of London, which has been Andrew’s residence since 2003. The late Queen Elizabeth II granted Andrew, the third of her 4 youngsters, the best to stay within the lodge, and his 75-year lease was as a result of expire in 2078.
But in its Thursday night time assertion, Buckingham Palace mentioned Andrew had been served formal discover to give up his lease and that he would “move to alternative private accommodation.” It is known that he will transfer as quickly as is practicable.
Royal sources have advised NCS that Andrew will be given a home on the King’s personal property in Sandringham, Norfolk. That huge property on England’s japanese coast is residence to some 150 properties.
It can be where the royal household spends Christmas. Before the Thursday night time announcement, Andrew had already been advised he wouldn’t be welcome on the nation retreat over the vacations, a royal supply had mentioned.
Andrew won’t transfer to Sandringham till after the Christmas holidays, one other supply mentioned, as a result of giving discover, surrendering the lease and orchestrating the transfer is anticipated to take a while.
Yes, however we don’t understand how a lot. After he stepped again from public duties following his disastrous 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Andrew was thought to obtain an annual allowance of about £1 million ($1.3 million) from the late Queen, in keeping with British media stories.
Those funds initially continued below Charles, the stories mentioned, however it’s understood that the King had stopped offering the allowance.
Despite now being stripped of his prince title, NCS understands that Andrew will nonetheless obtain an revenue from Charles.
Andrew’s funds have all the time been one thing of a thriller. His solely supply of revenue that has been declared is the pension he receives from his time within the navy between 1979 and 2001, mentioned to quantity to £20,000 ($26,000) a 12 months.
Andrew could have misplaced his titles, standing and honors however he remains to be eighth in line to the British throne.
There is a course of to formally take away him from the road of succession by laws, however it might take time because it requires the consent of Commonwealth nations world wide.
The final time this protocol was invoked was in 1936 with the abdication of Edward VIII.
Andrew and Sarah Ferguson divorced in 1996 however have lived collectively at Royal Lodge in Windsor since 2008. His ex-wife reverted to her maiden identify earlier this month when Andrew relinquished using his royal titles, together with Duke of York. She can be shifting out of Royal Lodge and make her personal dwelling preparations. It is known that she will not be becoming a member of Andrew when he strikes to Sandringham.
Their daughters, Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, are non-working royals and will retain their titles as daughters of the son of a sovereign, in keeping with a directive issued by King George V in 1917.
Beatrice lives along with her husband within the Cotswolds, about 100 miles from London, however has an condo at St. James’s Palace within the capital. Eugenie and her husband have a cottage within the grounds of Kensington Palace however spend quite a lot of time overseas. Their dwelling conditions will not be affected by their father’s exile.
The Liberal Democrats, an opposition social gathering, have these days referred to as for Andrew to present proof to a parliamentary committee about his funds and potential lease paid to stay in Royal Lodge.
So far, the federal government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to present members of parliament time to debate Andrew’s funds, regardless of public outcry for correct scrutiny.
This week, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative lawmaker and chair of the Public Accounts Committee, wrote to the Crown Estate Commissioners looking for extra data on Andrew’s lease preparations for Royal Lodge.
That committee is accountable for “upholding best value for taxpayers’ money,” Clifton-Brown wrote, and as such “we feel it is reasonable to seek further information on the status of, and rationale for, the lease of Royal Lodge.”
Potentially. Republic, an activist group looking for to abolish the monarchy, says it’s pursuing a non-public prosecution of Andrew “because if the government and police won’t hold him to account, we will.”
The group says it has instructed legal professionals to research and, if acceptable, start a non-public prosecution over allegations of sexual offenses and misconduct in public workplace.
Virginia Giuffre, a distinguished accuser of Epstein and his circle, alleged that Andrew had intercourse along with her thrice when she was a youngster. In her current memoir, revealed posthumously, Giuffre wrote that Andrew “believed that having sex with me was his birthright.”
Despite claiming by no means to have met her, Andrew reportedly paid tens of millions of {dollars} to Giuffre in 2022 to settle a civil case she introduced towards him. He has repeatedly denied all allegations towards him.
Giuffre died by suicide in April. On Thursday, Sky and Amanda Roberts, Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, advised NCS that Giuffre would have been “joyous” to know that Andrew had been stripped of the title that helped defend him from accountability.
“I think she would be proud, and I think she would turn to her children and say, ‘I did it. I got the bad guy,’” mentioned Amanda Roberts.
Virginia Giuffre’s household reacts to Andrew being stripped of ‘prince’ title
It’s arduous to say. Andrew is deeply unpopular with the British public. In a ballot revealed Thursday by YouGov, 91% of Britons had a detrimental opinion of Andrew. Just 4% had a constructive one. By distinction, Britons typically like Prince William (76%) and Charles (62%), and total have a constructive view of the monarchy as an establishment (56%).
If Andrew’s fall from grace started in earnest after his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, the royal household have repeatedly tried to attract a line below the scandal – first by Andrew’s withdrawing from public life, then by eradicating his army titles and patronages, later reducing him off financially, then by his relinquishing a few of his titles – and now by the King casting him out of the palace for good as a pariah.
None of the measures have quelled the general public outcry. It stays to be seen whether or not this time will be totally different.
Perhaps the Andrew scandal has roiled on for so lengthy as a result of, for the general public, his “punishments” don’t appear proportionate to the allegations that he faces. While the lack of his titles and favored residence could also be a private tragedy for Andrew, it elicits little sympathy from a public demanding correct accountability.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s Prince Andrew or Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – we’re still pursuing a private prosecution of him,” mentioned Republic, the activist group.