How Prince Andrew losing his titles impacts Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Eugenie

Prince Andrew has announced he is giving up his royal titles, including the Duke of York.

The decision is understood to have been made in close consultation with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family. Prince Andrew said continued accusations against him were distracting from the King's work.

He had been accused by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, of sexual assault. He denies this.

Which titles is he giving up? Prince Andrew is giving up his Duke of York title. Sky News understands this will be immediate.

He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. He will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but will not use it.

Prince Andrew will also remain a prince, as the son of Queen Elizabeth II. Why is this happening now? Ms Giuffre, who was one of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's victims, alleged Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, and sued him in 2021.

In her posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl, due to be published on Tuesday, she alleged he was "entitled" and "believed having sex with me was his birthright". Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations.

He has also always claimed that a well-known image of them together was doctored. Before her death, which her family said was by suicide, the case was settled outside of court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.

Ms Giuffre's posthumous memoir goes on sale a week after an email emerged showing Andrew told Epstein "we are in this together". The email was reportedly sent three months after he said he had stopped contact with the convicted sex offender.

On Friday evening, the US House Oversight Committee also released documents from Epstein's estate showing "Prince Andrew" listed as a passenger on the financier's private jet - the so-called Lolita Express - from Luton to Edinburgh in 2006, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell. He was also listed on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.

The flight logs have been reported on for years but the release may have added to pressure. "The situation has become untenable and intolerable, and this week in particular, the tipping point had been reached," said royal correspondent Laura Bundock.

It is understood that the changes will take effect immediately. The Giuffre family has called for the King to go further and "remove the title of Prince".

Prince Andrew's decision to relinquish his titles also comes following increased pressure over his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. Will this affect his ex-wife and daughters? Sky News understands that Andrew will continue to live at the Windsor Estate at the Royal Lodge.

His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also remain living at the Royal Lodge. But for the second year running, he will not attend the Royal Family's annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham, it is understood.

Andrew's ex-wife will also no longer use her Duchess of York title. She was dropped by numerous charities last month after it emerged that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a "supreme friend.