The King has issued Letters Patent which has formally removed the titles of his brother, formerly Prince Andrew.
Charles has revoked these honours using the royal prerogative, which are the powers he holds under the system of Constitutional Monarchy in the UK – but he announced the move last week.
Details of the Letters Patent have been published by the Crown Office in The Gazette, the UK’s official public record for royal statements of this kind.
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”.’
While Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 after a car crash interview on BBC Newnsight, further investigation showed he continued to maintain friendly contact with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, after the interview, the accusations levelled at Andrew from Virginia Giuffre, in her posthumous memoir, and the revelation that he was paying peppercorn rent to his brother for the 30-bed mansion of Royal Lodge.
Giuffre alleged that the former Prince had sexually abused her after she was trafficked by Epstein, claims Mountbatten Windsor has always strenuously denied.
The decision to remove Andrew’s birthright and Dukedom came from the public outcry at this behaviour and favourable treatment for the Duke.
The last time such a move was made came in 1917, during the First World War, when distant relatives of the Royal Family who held British titles fought for Germany and its allies.
