Former Prince Andrew Has Been Stripped of His Royal Titles — What Did He Do?

It has been more than a century since a dukedom has been revoked, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1919, an act of Parliament resulted in Prince Charles Edward losing the title of Duke of Albany because he sided with the Germans during World War I. Once again, history is being made.

In a statement released by Prince Andrew on Oct. 17, 2025, he announced he would no longer be using his title or the honors that had been conferred upon him. This decision was made after Windsor spoke with his brother, King Charles, along with his immediate and wider family. Rumor has it that this was not Windsor's idea and that he was pressured by the king. What did he do? It's a scandal Windsor will never escape.

Moving forward, Prince Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. When he was still a royal, Windsor was accused of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Windsor reportedly met Epstein in 1999 via his former romantic partner and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, per SBS News. In April 2000, Epstein and Maxwell attended Windsor's 40th birthday party, which was thrown by his mother at Windsor Castle.

Giuffre alleged in her posthumous memoir that Epstein trafficked her to Windsor on three separate occasions, the first of which happened in 2001. She was 17 years old at the time. That incident allegedly happened in London. The second allegedly occurred at Epstein's New York City townhouse in 2001. She wrote about the final time, on Epstein's private island, and described it as an orgy. Epstein and Windsor were allegedly with eight other girls who appeared to be under the age of 18.

In 2008, Epstein pled guilty to prostituting minors and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison. That didn't stop Windsor from visiting his old friend in 2010. The two were photographed together. A few years later, Giuffre's allegations against Windsor were made public in a 2014 lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Justice about Epstein's plea deal in 2008, which allowed him to participate in a work release program.

When Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking in July 2019, attention was once again placed on Windsor. Epstein took his life while in jail a month later, and in November, Windsor defended himself in a now-infamous interview with the BBC. This is when he told journalist Emily Maitlis that Giuffre was lying about a night where he was sweating while dancing with her because he has a condition that prevents him from sweating.

Giuffre sued Windsor in a Manhattan court in August 2021. He settled in February 2022 for an undisclosed amount of money. In October 2025, Giuffre's posthumous memoir was released six months after she took her own life. In the lead-up to the book's release, The Mail on Sunday published emails between Windsor and Epstein that proved they were in communication after the disgraced royal claimed they had severed ties.