PRINCE Andrew still poses a real threat to the royal family after being pressed to give up his royal titles, an expert has revealed.
Andrew was forced to surrender his role as a member of the Order of the Garter and his Duke of York title amid his ongoing involvement in the Epstein scandal.
A royal expert has now raised concerns that the ostracised prince could still damage the firm.
Phil Dampier told The Sun: “If he is forced into a corner and completely put into exile, who’s to say that he or his ex-wife won’t write another book… or start hitting back?
“If enough pressure was put on him, he could voluntarily stop calling himself a prince too. He can’t have that taken away from him – that would be a last resort.
“But the trouble is just when you think it can’t get any worse for Andrew, it does. So the options to “punish” him are running out.
“They can try and force him out of Royal Lodge, but they’ve already tried that before.
“He’s a Counsellor of State, they could have that taken away… he could be taken out of the line of succession or they could take away his princehood.
“But that would be virtually impossible without him voluntarily doing it.”
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have caused a number of embarrassments for the royal family in the past.
Our royal expert explained that removing the troublesome pair from the public eye and distancing them from the firm was the best way to prevent further scandals.
But, Mr Dampier said that the firm is running out of options to continue punishing the prince.
He also raised concerns that Andrew could start to damage the family in retaliation.
Our expert also said there were real concerns that Andrew was already heading down a path to further scandal.
A recent announcement that the Met has launched a probe into claims Prince Andrew recruited the force to dig up dirt on his sex-abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre is a cause for worry, the expert said.
Dampier told The Sun: “If he wanted to call himself Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and go and live in Switzerland… that might be the best thing for all concerned.
“But I don’t think that is likely to happen anytime soon.
“I think the palace will feel the steps they’ve taken in the last few days and his decision to not use his titles… they were probably anticipating things were going to get worse.
“Whether it proves to be enough or not, I don’t think anyone can tell at the minute. We just don’t know what is going to come out next.
“The fact the police are now looking into this allegation that he might have tried to get one of his PPOs to smear Virginia Giuffre… it just takes it to a whole new level.
“Just when you think it can’t get any worse it seemingly does.
“I think the fact he allegedly had her social security number and passed it onto his officer, I think that is verging on being a criminal offence.
“If that is proven, that he tried to use that information to dig up more about her and find out more about her background.
“The fact police are looking into it must mean there is some sort of basis for some sort of wrongdoing somewhere along the line. Otherwise they wouldn’t be looking at it.”
Dampier said he believes William, who is next in line for the throne, may be ruthless in dealing with scandal prone Andrew.
The Prince of Wales is understood to have been involved in the decision to press Andrew into giving up his royal titles.
William has openly spoken about modernising the monarchy in the past and has indicated he would take a different approach to his predecessors as King.
Dampier said that where the King has been kind to his brother, William may chose to be tougher.
The expert said: “I think William will be quite ruthless. There have been stories this morning suggesting Andrew won’t be invited to his coronation.
“If that turns out to be true, then obviously William would very much be flexing his muscles as King and laying down an immediate indication that he’s not to be challenged.
“Charles is obviously trying to draw a line under this before William becomes King while being as fair to Andrew as he can… because at the end of the day, it is his brother.
“What Andrew hasn’t done – unlike Harry – is to go public with criticism of the monarchy, The King or the royals.
“At least he has been loyal… despite being completely careless and stupid.”
Concerns were raised that an approach that backs scandal immersed Andrew into a corner could lead to him fighting back.
Dampier said it is likely that the firm will try and distance themselves from Andrew and any potential future scandals.
However, doing this would require the ex-Duke of York to accept the punishments meted out to him without a fight.
