By stripping his brother’s titles, King Charles may have protected the royal family, but the former duke and his wife, Sarah Ferguson, still face legal risks.

Even compared to historic royal scandals such as the abdication of King Edward, Princess Diana and Charles’ divorce, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the UK, this week’s headlines were shocking: Prince Andrew has been formally stripped of his royal titles and evicted from his home at the Royal Lodge by order of his brother, King Charles III. The announcement followed a deafening chorus about his links to Jeffrey Epstein, sex trafficking and the sexual abuse of young women, including the late Virginia Giufffre.

Until King Charles took that step, “this was the most dangerous moment in royal history for 100 years,” Andrew Lownie, who has written several books on the royal family, including Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, tells USA TODAY. “Here was a royal who was corrupt and who was supported by the institution itself. And the public were absolutely furious.” The former Duke of York’s story is far from over, and the latest development only highlights new and unanswered questions about the intertwined fates of Andrew, his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, King Charles and the monarchy itself. Here, USA TODAY explores some of the most pressing issues, with the help of royal insiders and experts.

Will Andrew be investigated by authorities?

“Absolutely. I think the public mood wants law enforcement agencies to look at him properly, because there have been fudges in the past,” Lownie predicts.

“There’s also this attempt to basically influence a government official by trying to smear Virginia Giuffre,” he says. An email obtained by Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, and published earlier in October, claimed that Andrew asked his Metropolitan Police bodyguard to investigate Virginia Giuffre shortly before her accusations against him were made public in 2021.

The newspaper reported that Andrew passed British police Giuffre’s date of birth, U.S. social security number and suggested she had a criminal record. Andrew has not publicly responded to the accusation. The Metropolitan Police said they were looking into the claims. Dai Davies, the former head of royal protection for the British monarchy and now a royal commentator, says that if the Mail’s report turns out to be accurate then it means Andrew committed a criminal offense.Says Lownie: “Misconduct in public office, which carries life imprisonment, could be what they bring against him, quite apart from the sex trafficking allegations.”

Could authorities in the U.S. — Congress or the FBI — question him?

“The FBI have long wanted to talk to him and he refused to cooperate, as indeed noted by the victims’ lawyers and others. There may be a renewed resolve to talk to him. He may fight it,” Lownie says.  Lownie believes there is “plenty of evidence that he’s broken the law” that would justify a U.S. investigation, but it remains to be seen if the Department of Justice under President Trump would pursue the case.

Why did King Charles III make this decision now?

“He absolutely had to if the monarchy is to be a symbol of national unity, if it’s to actually function,” says royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. Giuffre’s posthumously published book Nobody’s Girl put tremendous pressure on the royal family, he adds: “The royal family advertises themselves as purveyors of soft power, and they’ve done it brilliantly. [But] when you go to the Vatican and pray with the Pope, and it’s overshadowed by a scandal that has gone back 15 years and gets worse and worse,” Charles was left with no other option. 

Lownie also believes stripping Andrew’s title might have staunched the bleeding—for now. “They were worried what else might come out,” adds Lownie.  “They know that some of the victims are now much more emboldened to speak out. It was better to cut loose at this stage.” In short, he adds, “They can basically wash their hands of him and he’s going to be left to sink or swim.”Davies said while he has no new specific information about the allegations against Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, as he is now officially known, he strongly suspects the king believes there could be further damaging revelations “coming their way.”

What was King Charles and Prince Andrew’s relationship like?

“I don’t think the two of them had a great deal in common, because Charles was extremely intellectual, as well as being amazingly physical when it came to sport,” Fitzwilliams says. Andrew, 65, is viewed “very much a sort of ‘bovine’ type,” he says, using the British slang for someone who is slow or stupid, i.e. like a cow. “He’s someone with all these silly jokes and so forth that wouldn’t appeal to Charles…They’re so different.”

Did Prince William have any input into his father’s decision?

While the Palace has officially said it was Charles’ decision alone, Fitzwiliam says he’s “absolutely convinced” that heir apparent William, seeing the decline in public support for the monarchy in the UK., weighed in and saw the institution “threatened” by the mounting scandal.

Could Andrew go to jail?

“There are a whole series of charges that could be leveled at him with good evidence,” says Lownie. “If the authorities properly investigate him, there’s a good chance charges will be brought and he may well be found guilty and go to prison.”

While Lownie predicts prison could be “very likely” for Andrew, it is extremely rare for members of the British royal family to be accused or convicted of criminal offenses. Princess Anne—sister to the King and Andrew—became the first member of the British royal family to be convicted of a criminal offense in 2002 after one of her dogs, a three-year-old English bull terrier named Dotty, bit two children in Windsor Great Park. (She pled guilty and paid a fine.)

What is Sarah Ferguson’s involvement and what will she do next?

The former Duchess of York and her ex-husband remained close and even lived together, but she will no longer receive royal support. “Her daughters might have to help in supporting her, because she’s lost all her patronages,” says Fitzwilliams. “She ran a very, very well-organized PR campaign” to get back in the public’s good graces, but those rehabilitation efforts “been completely destroyed. She won’t bounce back from this.”

Lownie agrees, citing Ferguson’s close ties to Epstein that a recently unearthed email suggests.  “She was staying with Epstein, at one of the Epstein flats, four years after she claimed publicly to have broken contact,” he says. “She was down in Palm Beach, she was always with him in New York. This relationship has kind of been ignored with the focus on Jeffrey and Andrew, so she’s kind of slipped in under the radar.” 

The former duchess could face legal issues of her own, he adds: “I think she’s certainly a material witness to what was going on. She must have seen what was going on. I think she’s very much in the frame—another reason why they’ve cast her adrift.”

Will Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice continue to perform royal duties?

While the Palace confirmed Eugenie and Beatrice will retain their titles, “It’s very difficult to see” either of them leading high-profile royal events in the wake of their father’s disgrace and legal peril, Fitzwilliams says. “Of course, they shouldn’t be blamed. They seem well-adjusted. They’ve got careers, happy families as far as I know, and they want to do bits for charity. They shouldn’t be stopped” from that philanthropy. Unfortunately, he doesn’t see “charities queuing up” to work with them in the wake of the scandal. “I do hope people will look at this in as reasonable a way as possible.“

Why is Andrew still in the line of succession?

Yes, but not in an actionable way. “In reality, it doesn’t matter, because only working royals could succeed [to the throne],” says Fitzwilliams. Andrew hasn’t been a working royal since 2019.  To remove Andrew from the official line, Fitzwilliams says, would require “a lot of parliamentary time on technicality.”  

Will Andrew appear at any public functions again?

It’s reported that Andrew will live in a house on the royal family’s Sandringham estate, but will not be included in the family’s Christmas celebration. “The same goes for Easter,” Fitzwilliams says. “The only thing you can’t keep him out of is a funeral. I think we would see him slip into the side door and slip out.”

Can the British monarchy survive this?

With Charles’ decision, “They’re not out of the woods yet, but they’ve appeased a lot of the public anger,” Lownie surmises. “They’ve shown that they care about the victims. But things can still go wrong. I kind of feel the mood is that Andrew needs to pay some sort of penalty for this. And if that involves him going to prison, then I think that would be quite popular. The sense that elites haven’t gotten away with it, that they are accountable, would send out a very strong message that people would be very happy with.”