King Charles has been seen for the first time since stripping his younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, of the right to call himself a prince.
The King appeared pensive as he drove around Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in a Range Rover on Friday morning.
He was accompanied by a royal protection officer, who sat in the passenger seat while the King took it upon himself to drive.
Last night, Buckingham Palace unceremoniously announced that the disgraced ex-Duke of York would surrender the lease on his mansion, Royal Lodge, and would be banished to a private home on the Norfolk estate.
The unprecedented step came amid mounting pressure to remove every privilege Andrew had enjoyed as a royal even after stepping back from official duties six years ago following his disastrous Newsnight interview.
Sources told the Daily Mail that the move was entirely down to the King and his advisors, without pressure from the Government or other family members, such as Prince William.
It was prompted, they said, as a result of the ‘serious lapses of judgment which his brother has shown’. The King’s decision is said to have the support of his family.
A Kensington Palace source said: ‘The Royal Family, including the Prince of Wales, fully support the King’s leadership on this matter. These decisions have been the King’s, with the support of the wider family.’
King Charles has been seen for the first time since effectively banishing his brother from royal life on Thursday night
The King appeared pensive as he drove around Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in a Range Rover on Friday morning
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, as he is now known, has surrendered everything – but remains eighth in line to the throne
Buckingham Palace’s clinically cold statement issued on Thursday evening made clear that the King had deemed it ‘necessary’ to take action on his disgraced brother.
‘His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,’ the statement read.
‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
‘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.
‘These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.’
In a pointed addendum, the Palace added: ‘Their Majesties 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.’
It comes after the Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed scandalous correspondence where the shunned prince told Epstein ‘we are in this together’ a day after the infamous picture of the royal with his alleged then–teenage sex victim Virginia Giuffre was released.
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Andrew’s former home. He will now be moving to a private residence on the monarch’s Sandringham estate
Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in a photo reportedly taken in 2001, when Ms Giuffre was 17 years old
As Andrew’s links to the disgraced financier continued to bring shame on the royals, last night he finally agreed to surrender his Windsor lease where he resided with his ex–wife Sarah Ferguson for over two decades, paying ‘peppercorn rent’.
Sources revealed the former Duchess of York, who has also been embroiled in scandal relating to sex–offender Epstein, ‘will make her own arrangements’ when it comes to her future.
His Majesty’s younger brother will now be banished to a private property on the monarch’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, but no further details have been shared.
It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King’s decision.
Today, the ex–Duke of York wakes up as commoner Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – and ministers have suggested that he could be less protected from, for example, demands to testify in America having been stripped of his royal status.
Trade minister Sir Chris Bryant told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think that just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently–minded person to comply with that request.’
Andrew was ‘arrogant, boorish and entitled’ and his behaviour ‘consistently embarrassed’ Charles to the point he had no choice but to excise him from royal life, a confidant of the King has claimed.
Jonathan Dimbleby said he was in ‘no doubt’ that the monarch has been ‘consistently embarrassed, frustrated by and angry about’ his brother’s behaviour.
The Royal Family released a public statement announcing Andrew would no longer be a prince
A ‘culmination’ of recent revelations – including that Andrew told his friend, the paedophile Epstein, that ‘we are in this together’, as exclusively revealed by the Mail – forced Charles’ hand, Mr Dimbleby told the BBC.
‘I suspect he will be feeling a measure of relief,’ he said of Charles. ‘His brother – this is not an easy thing for any brother to do, to be banished, eternal imprisonment in a way, on Sandringham Estate.’
He added: ‘We know his brother was boorish, arrogant, entitled, that he made an awful lot of bad friendships, all sorts of questions about how he got his own money – there is a lot that will be discussed.
‘If there are further investigations, which I’m sure there will be into Andrew himself, the King himself will be quite separate from that and more importantly the institution of the monarchy will be detached from that.’
The family of Ms Giuffre – who claimed to have been trafficked to and made to have sex with Andrew at 17 – are now calling for him to face justice in the US, where he could potentially be extradited as an ‘ordinary member of the public’.
Sky Roberts, Ms Giuffre’s brother warned there could be more trouble for Andrew as his family’s fight for justice ‘was not over yet’.
He told BBC Newsnight: ‘It’s not enough – we have to have some kind of investigation that goes further into this. He’s still walking around a free man.
‘I commend the King – I think he’s doing an amazing job as a world leader setting a precedent – but we need to take it one more step further: he (Andrew) needs to be behind bars.’
Andrew pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in New York’s Central Park in December 2010
It is understood Sarah Ferguson, seen with Andrew at Royal Ascot in 2019, will make her own living arrangements
Amanda Roberts, Virginia’s sister–in–law, also told Newsnight that she supported the notion of a joint US–UK investigation.
‘I think both countries need to look at collaborating here – the US government holds the key to the larger scope of the Jeffrey Epstein case,’ she said.
‘The UK is setting an example for what the US should be doing right now. And I would ask that your leaders put that pressure on our leaders to do the right thing.’
Mr Dimbleby has suggested that the King would be unlikely to step in if a request was made by the US to extradite US in order to face questions over his alleged behaviour.
‘If there is an extradition, it will not have to do with the King himself,’ he told the BBC.
‘One of the proper things to do now is to have made it clear that the (ex) prince, his brother, is beyond the pale.’
When contacted by the Daily Mail, the Metropolitan Police did not rule out a possible prosecution.
Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie fled Britain in the days before their father’s final humiliation that finally sees him kicked out of Royal Lodge, where he was said to have had a ‘cast iron’ 75–year lease.
Email exchanges Between Prince Andrew, Ed Perkins and Jeffrey Epstein
The pair, who will retain their titles, were pictured abroad: Beatrice at an investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Eugenie snapping selfies with friends in Paris – all while moves began to evict their father back home.
It had been suggested that Andrew was pressured by Prince William into giving up the residence under threat of having his daughters’ titles taken away.
Yesterday, the anti–monarchy campaign group Republic said it had instructed lawyers to investigate Andrew and, if appropriate, press ahead with a private prosecution.
The Daily Mail understands the allegations it is focusing on relate to accusations he sexually assaulted Giuffre, that he asked a royal protection officer to look into her background and impropriety when he served as an official UK trade envoy.
Republic said it is mounting its own bid to take him to court because the legal and political response to the claims has been ‘weak and inadequate’ to date.
‘If not us, then who?’ asked Graham Smith, the group’s CEO. ‘It’s a devastating indictment on the UK’s criminal justice system, police and politicians – not to mention the king and heir – that we must resort to a private prosecution.’
Last night the group said that Andrew’s punishment was ‘nowhere near enough’, adding: ‘He will never be an “ordinary person” – ordinary people don’t get away with being accused of sexual abuse.’
