KING Charles threatened to strip Prince Andrew of his titles unless he “saw sense” and gave them up himself, reports say.
The King spelled out to his younger brother that he must jump or he’d be pushed – with “decisive further action” on the table.
Andrew, 65, was stubbornly clinging to his titles amid snowballing scandal, and only relinquished them for fear of a public booting, reports the Daily Mail.
He is said to have shown a “startling lack of contrition” over revelations he lied to the public over how long he maintained ties with paedo Jeffrey Epstein.
Sources said the situation became “intolerable” for the King – with Andrew unable to assure him there would be no more damaging revelations.
The only way for him to legally strip Andrew of his titles would have been through Parliament – something Charles hoped to avoid.
read more on the andrew saga
Embroiling Westminster would have been an ugly process, taking up valuable time and resources.
It is understood Andrew was “shocked” that the Palace was even considering taking matters out of his hands, and this pushed him to act.
On Saturday another tranche of emails was uncovered allegedly showing that Andrew instructed his personal bodyguard to dig up dirt on his sex accuser, Virginia Giuffre – with the Met now investigating.
It appears he gave a royal protection officer her date of birth and confidential social security number — which is similar to the UK’s National Insurance number.
According to the emails, published by the Mail on Sunday, Andrew wrote to communications chief Ed Perkins on February 26, 2011 — the day before the photo of Andrew with his arm round Virginia was published.
He told Mr Perkins: “It would seem she has a criminal record in the States.
“I have given her DoB and social security number for investigation with (redacted) the on duty PPO.”
He also emailed Mr Perkins, the Queen’s deputy press secretary, saying he had conversations with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell about Virginia being a “liar”.
Mr Davies, the former head of Scotland Yard’s Royal Protection Command, said: “The team who were protecting him need to be interviewed, and the truth needs to come out one way or the other.
“Along with the other allegations that he has never really been questioned about properly by the police or anyone else, then this is yet another example why the authorities, for once, should do their job properly.”
On Sunday night, the Met said it is “actively looking” into the claims.
Andrew received his royal marching orders and on Friday night handed back all his titles – including the Duke of York.
It came after The Sun on Sunday proved he lied about the date he severed contact with sex-trafficker Epstein.
Andrew emailed Epstein: “We are in this together,” three months after the date he said he had cut him out – along with a queasy promise to “play some more soon”.
The bombshell message sent on February 28, 2011, proves Andrew lied when he told BBC Newsnight he ceased contact with the financier three months earlier, in December 2010.
It is understood William, Prince of Wales, was also closely involved with giving Andrew his marching orders from the Royal Family, and is happy with the outcome.
Andrew Lownie, the Prince’s biographer, has warned there is more scandal to come.
He said: “This is just the tip of the iceberg.
“I think the palace is worried about new allegations that will emerge Stateside, they know there is more damaging stuff to come.”
Virginia’s family released a statement on Friday night saying: “This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained: ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me.’”
In her book Nobody’s Girl – due to be published on Tuesday, after her death in April – Virginia talked about living with an “emotional time bomb” over her ordeal at the hands of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew.
She said she suffered recurring nightmares and flashbacks of “disturbing images”, including “greedy, heaving men”.
The book also claims she was “gagged” by Andrew to avoid ruining the late Queen’s platinum jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her platinum jubilee in 2022, and the civil case – gathering pace – was swiftly settled just nine days later.
In another particularly disturbing episode, the book claims Andrew correctly guessed Virginia’s age during one of their meetings.
“My daughters are just a little younger than you,” he is said to have explained.
