Photo: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince Andrew is a prince no more. On Thursday, Buckingham Palace issued a statement to the BBC announcing that King Charles had initiated a formal process to remove the “Style, Titles and Honours” of Prince Andrew — well, former Prince Andrew — and evict him from his royal mansion.

The royal family has been trying to distance itself from Andrew since 2019, when his ties to Jeffrey Epstein came under public scrutiny in the wake of Epstein’s arrest. Andrew relinquished his royal duties in 2019 but kept his titles until earlier this month, when a posthumous memoir from his most vocal accuser, Virginia Giuffre — which repeats her allegations that he assaulted her multiple times when she was a teenager trafficked by Epstein — put his friendship with Epstein under the spotlight again. He voluntarily gave up his Duke of York and Order of the Garter designations earlier in October. While he has not objected to his royal status changes, Andrew has consistently denied the allegations against him.

The king’s brother will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, according to the statement, and is surrendering the lease on the Royal Lodge, a mansion in Windsor where he currently lives with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. He will move to an “alternative private accommodation,” which, according to the BBC, is the private Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The property is owned by the royal family.

“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,” the palace’s statement concluded.

Giuffre’s family lauded the news in a statement sent to the BBC. “Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” said her brother Skye Roberts and sister-in-law Amanda. “We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”