King formally strips Andrew of prince title and HRH style

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's prince title and HRH style have been formally removed by the King.

.Details of the Letters Patent have been published by the Crown Office in The Gazette, the UK's official public record. The entry read: "THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of 'Royal Highness' and the titular dignity of 'Prince'." Letters patent are a type of legal document and an "open letter" which expresses the will of the Monarch, usually on ministerial advice.

Charles's decision to effectively banish Andrew from the monarchy and strip him of all his titles, removing his birthright to be a prince as well as his dukedom, followed growing controversy over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. He stepped down from public duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein.

But pressure had also been growing on the palace after renewed attention on sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir was published last month. While Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing, Ms Giuffre sued him in 2021 and the case was settled outside of court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.

Andrew recently announced he would no longer use his royal titles, but his brother vowed to go further after new allegations emerged. They included details about Andrew's relationship with Epstein and reports he asked a royal close protection officer to "dig up dirt" on Virginia Giuffre.

Read more from Sky News:Analysis: Andrew pays the ultimate priceVirginia Giuffre's writes about allegationsTrump feels 'badly' for Royal FamilyCould Andrew face US Congress? Another entry in The Gazette confirmed the removal of Andrew from the Roll of Peerage as the Duke of York, which was previously announced. It read: "THE KING has been pleased by Warrant under His Royal Sign Manual dated 30 October 2025 to direct His Secretary of State to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage with immediate effect." A notice has also been served for Andrew to surrender his lease at Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion in Windsor where he has lived for more than 20 years and paid only a "peppercorn rent".

He will now move to private accommodation in Sandringham, Norfolk. Sarah Ferguson lived with her ex-husband Andrew at Royal Lodge but will not be housed by Charles and will have to find a new home.

Andrew has held the title of prince since birth as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Charles's decision to remove the titles has been welcomed by the family of Ms Giuffre, who took her own life in April at the age of 41..