By Cindy Bregin Crouch
Emmy Winning Investigative Reporter
October 30, 2025
The major news out of London today is a first. Former Queen Elizabeth’s favorite son Andrew has been stripped of his royal title. Andrew is no longer a prince and he has also been given the boot out of the Royal Lodge. Going forward Andrew might as well be a common citizen. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
This royal showdown was years in the making. A gray cloud started swirling over Andrew‘s head as the Epstein drama unfolded in the United States. Many had thought the queen might strip him of his royal title while she was still alive. However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Several days ago it became known to the world Prince William had met with Andrew’s two daughters, Eugene and Beatrice to try and talk them into reasoning with their father. Prince William let it be known that their royal titles were on the line as well. Over the past several weeks it had leaked that Princess Kate and Prince William were moving into the Royal Lodge property with their family. In their way were former Princess Fergie and Prince Andrew. The divorced couple were still living together even though they were divorced. I found it very intriguing that William was the messenger on this. Given all the controversy with Harry and Megan this shows me that William will not hesitate to cut those two off at the knees. But as the demotion of Andrew rolled on this week, it came to be known King Charles was actually the one who gave his brother the final kick in the pants and dressing down. News reports out of London reported Fergie was hysterical. She also suffered the same fate as Andrew. Her title of princess had also been stripped. However, their daughters were allowed to keep their royal titles. It seems like this was a good gesture by the King and also Prince William. Princesses Eugene and Beatrice have always been viewed for the most part as really stand up young ladies. Royal experts and watchers consider this to be a case of “the children are not responsible for the sins of the adults”.
The royal family was shaken by the news that broke ten years ago about Prince Andrew’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. News broke of his involvement with Epstein along with accusations he raped a teenager in 2001. Queen Elizabeth immediately stripped him of his military titles and his royal patronages from that moment on. Prince Andrew was no longer allowed to be referred to as “His Royal Highness”. The Sun, a popular British tabloid, summed it up by printing: Andrew had been “effectively banished.” Andrew denied he was ever friends with the former financier and convicted sex offender Epstein. Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre later claimed Epstein had trafficked her to Prince Andrew. There is still much debate as to whether Epstein committed suicide in prison or was actually taken out. This scandalous news hit the royal family hard. At that point they were still reeling by the sudden departure and rapid exit by Prince Harry and his wife Megan to Canada. It was the worst timing imaginable. Queen Elizabeth was sent to celebrate her 70th anniversary on the throne and the monarchy. She and her advisors were singular in their focus. They wanted to renew the Royal brand for future generations. The self-created stench of the Princess Diana crisis had finally cleared. Until news of the Epstein scandal broke it looked like smooth sailing for the palace.
Is it the curse of being a spare and not the heir? Not entirely. Prince Andrew was born in 1960 and went on to have a distinguished military career. However, much like his father, he seemed to have an adventurous streak that tended to land him on the wrong side of things more often than not. Andrew had a very busy bachelorhood. He was constantly in the British tabloids, with this actress or that model. These wild excursions earned him the moniker “Randy Andy” with the British press and cemented his reputation as a Playboy Prince.
The British people had high hopes when the Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson in 1986. It finally seemed that Sara had clipped his wings and quite possibly Prince Andrew might enter into a quiet and stable family life. There are thousands of theories as to what went wrong, but that marriage ended in divorce a decade later amid allegations of infidelity. However, the couple remained close and they continued to share a home at Royal Lodge, a residence near Windsor Castle. In his younger years Andrew was considered kind of a pampered loser. He finally earned respect after training as a naval officer and serving as a helicopter pilot during the Falkland Islands War. A much covered event in Andrew’s adult life proved to most that Prince Andrew had a huge appetite for risk. He abseiled down the side of the Shard from the 87th floor. The Shard is an iconic London skyscraper. This was viewed as a sensationalistic stunt and reinforced for the British public that Andrew was a little off.
Then Prince Andrew’s legal woes came to a head in 2015. Accusations against Andrew surfaced during a federal lawsuit against Epstein in Florida. That is the first time the world heard the information one accuser, Virginia Giuffre, claimed the Prince had raped her when she was 17. Four years later, Prince Andrew had an absolutely disastrous interview with the BBC. During the broadcast, he tried to explain his friendship with Epstein by characterizing Epstein’s behavior as “unbecoming”. After that interview, Prince Andrew announced he was stepping away from public life indefinitely. Many believe he lied during that interview when he said he had “no recollection” of meeting Giuffre. It’s funny how evidence always surfaces once somebody spins a bold face lie. There was a widely published photograph of Prince Andrew with his arm around the girl’s waist. He told the BBC he had no memory of that photograph ever being taken. During that same interview, he also made several bizarre claims Investigators believe were concocted to deflect his accuser’s charges. The craziest of them was his claim that he was medically incapable of sweating. Miss Giuffre claimed the prince was “sweating profusely” during one of their encounters. Then in August 2021 Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew in federal court in Manhattan, New York repeating her accusations. Andrew‘s lawyers have tried to get the case dismissed but the judge has allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The Queen‘s decision to remove Andrew‘s military titles and his honorific “His Royal Highness” put the Prince in the uncomfortable position of having the exact station in life as his nephew Prince Harry. Virginia Giuffre committed suicide earlier this year. Her memoir about the ordeal, Nobody’s Girl, has just been printed and released.
The statement from Buckingham Palace in full:
His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew will know be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accomodations.
These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
Their Magesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of advise.
