Stunning reaction to Andrew news says it all

Bronte Coy and Benedict Brook

This is the moment a BBC studio audience learned the breaking news that Prince Andrew is to be stripped of his royal title.

Today’s bombshell Palace statement dropped while BBC current affairs program Question Time was airing live, and host Fiona Bruce veered from her prepared content to announce the breaking news on air.

“We have a breaking story which we should respond to - that’s why I stopped you there, forgive me,” she told a guest on the panel.

 

“Now, Prince Andrew...” she began, which drew immediate laughter and groans from the studio audience.

“The King has initiated a process... Prince Andrew will no longer be Prince Andrew,” Bruce announced.

Gasps could be heard from the studio audience - then spontaneous applause. There was a second round of applause when Bruce relayed that Andrew “will surrender the lease to his home” and find alternative private accommodation.

 

It comes as Virginia Giuffre’s family has said she “brought down a British Prince” declaring “victory” over Andrew.

Her brother hailed his sister’s “extraordinary courage” and vowed to continue her battle until the “same accountability applies” to all of the abusers linked to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year, repeatedly claimed she had sex with Andrew as a teenager – something the ex-Duke of York has continuously denied.

In a heartfelt statement, her brother Skye and sister-in-law Amanda said: “Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.”

“Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her.

“Today, she declares victory. 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.”

Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing and allegations made against him by Virginia.

He paid out an estimated £12 million ($24 million) in an out-of-court settlement in February 2022.

Andrew to be stripped of 'prince’ title

Buckingham Place has announced that Prince Andrew will no longer use the title “prince” and will move out of the Royal Lodge as he continues to be mired in scandal.

In an announcement late on Thursday, UK time, King Charles stated he had “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”.

Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The decision was due to “serious lapses in Andrew’s judgement,” the BBC reported.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement read.

“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.”

Andrew had already agreed to give up his Duke of York title after it emerged he had remained in touch with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously claimed.

The Palace statement also said that Andrew’s lease on the Royal Lodge, on the grounds of Windsor Great Park, would end.

“Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation”.

It’s understood he will leave as soon as is practical.

‘Censures deemed necessary’

It has been reported Andrew will move to the King’s Norfolk home of Sandringham, in England’s east, and that that any future accommodation will be privately funded by the King.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.

“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.”

Andrew’s daughters Eugenie and Beatrice will continue to be known as princesses. It’s not clear where Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York and ex wife of Andrew will live. She had been in the Royal Lodge with him. When it became clear Charles wanted the pair out, Andrew demanded they then get two cottages on the Windsor estate – one for each of them.

‘Serious lapses in Andrew’s judgement’

The BBC has reported that Andrew did not object to the King’s decision.

“The decision was made, and action taken, due to serious lapses in Andrew’s judgement, it is understood,” reported the British public broadcaster.

It was further reported that the UK government was consulted and stated in conversations with the Palace that it “supported the decision”.

It had already been a bad day for Andrew. Hours before, an anti monarchy group said it was looking into a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office as scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein intensifies.

One final humiliation awaits Andrew

Following the release of Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoir and a leaked email between Andrew and Epstein, antimonarchy group Republic instructed lawyers to investigate the disgraced royal and, if “sufficient evidence” of wrongdoing is found, launch legal proceedings.

As the organisation’s CEO, Graham Smith, told the UK’s Sky News: “Justice must be seen to be done”.

Republic said it will look into “allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office”.

“If not us, then who? 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,” said Mr Smith.

“It should be a cause for concern that so many people believe – rightly in my view – that the royals are not treated equally in law. Equality in law is a basic tenet of democracy.

“I firmly believe there is strong enough evidence to justify a serious investigation. The truth must prevail and justice must be seen to be done.”

News.com.au has contacted the office of Andrew for comment

Prior to her suicide earlier this year, Ms Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, alleged that she’d had three sexual encounters with Andrew, including once when she was just 17, while she was being sex trafficked by Epstein.

Andrew has firmly denied all allegations of wrongdoing and has also denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre.

In 2022, he settled a civil case she brought against him in the US for a reported $24 million, which came with no admission of liability.

Ms Giuffre first reported the abuse claims against Andrew in early 2015, but London’s Metropolitan Police chose not to investigate on advice from the Crown Prosecution Service the following year.

After Epstein’s death in custody in 2019, the Met opened a review into its earlier decision and upheld the initial call.

In 2021, the decision was reviewed a third time, where it was decided again it would not be pursued, following Ms Giuffre’s civil claim against Andrew.

The scandal around Andrew has been growing in recent weeks, with Channel 4 News reporting that authorities are set to look into allegations that royal protection officers obstructed lawyers attempting to serve legal papers to the then-Duke of York at Royal Lodge in 2021 after he was accused of sexually abusing Ms Giuffre.

Last week, the Met also confirmed it was “actively” looking into claims that the prince attempted to use his taxpayer-funded police protection officer to try and dig into the past of his sex abuse accuser.