London, Oct 30 (EFE).- King Charles III began formal proceedings Thursday to strip his brother Andrew of his prince title, honors, and distinctions, Buckingham Palace said.
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” the statement read.
According to the statement, Andrew will also have to give up his current lease on Royal Lodge mansion, near Windsor Castle (southwest of London).
“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 accommodation,” the statement added.
The text also explained that these sanctions are “deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him” for the sex scandals stemming from his relationship with convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The Buckingham Palace statement concludes by indicating that the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, Charles III and Camilla, “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 abuse.”
Thursday’s announcement is King Charles’s final step in completely disassociating Andrew from the British crown, just weeks after the latter issued a statement voluntarily renouncing the use of his royal titles and honors.
Andrew, who was popularly known by the title of Duke of York, retained the title of “prince” as it was his birthright for being the third son of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
In recent days, pressure on Charles III increased after several MPs expressed their willingness to open a debate in Parliament on Prince Andrew’s conduct and the possibility of stripping him of his titles, after one of the prince’s alleged sexual victims, Virginia Giuffre, accused him in her posthumous memoirs. EFE
rb/mcd
