Prince Andrew was once a war hero and a valued member of the British royal family.
But after decades of scandal after scandal, the younger brother of King Charles has been pushed out of the royal family in disgrace.
This week, King Charles announced he was taking steps to remove Andrew’s royal titles, honours and privileges. From now on, the 65-year-old will be referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and he has been given notice to move out of Royal Lodge as soon as possible.
The news comes after the posthumous memoir of Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre was released last week, in which she claimed Andrew saw having sex with her when she was just 17 years old as his “birthright”. Andrew has continuously denied the allegations, and in February 2022, he paid Virginia an out-of-court settlement for $24 million without accepting liability.
This is just the latest in a long line of scandals that have plagued the royal family and have seen Andrew go from the late Queen’s favourite son to total banishment.
Here’s a complete timeline of Prince Andrew’s many scandals:
A war hero and a new groom
Long before his association with Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was a celebrated war hero who retired from the military in 2001 with the rank of commander. However, he maintained his naval affiliation, and reached the honorary rank of vice admiral in 2015.
In 1984, the young prince was embroiled in his first scandal when he sprayed reporters and photographers with paint while touring a construction project in the Watts neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
“I enjoyed that,” he reportedly said while wiping his hands on a piece of newspaper.
In 1986, Andrew married Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson and the couple had two daughters together — Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
They would split just six years later with Fergie later saying the marriage broke down due to Andrew’s military commitments.
“I didn’t want a divorce but had to because of circumstance,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2011. “I wanted to work; it’s not right for a princess of the royal house to be commercial, so Andrew and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job.”
The alleged assault of Virginia Giuffre
Andrew first reportedly met Jeffrey Epstein in 1999 when the pair were introduced by Ghislaine Maxwell.
Over the following year, the three were spotted together on multiple occasions, including at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
And in April 2000, Epstein and Maxwell attended a party at Windsor Castle to celebrate Andrew’s 40th birthday.
In her memoir, Virginia alleged she was trafficked to Andrew on three separate occasions in 2001 when she was just 17 years old.
The first alleged instance was at Ghislaine’s house in London, the second assault allegedly occurred Epstein’s New York townhouse, and the third assault allegedly occurred on Epstein’s private island in which Virginia described as an “orgy” involving Epstein, Andrew and around eight other girls who “all appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English”.
Andrew is spotted with Jeffrey Epstein after he is released from prison
In 2006, Epstein was sentenced to 18 months behind bars after pleading guilty to prostituting minors.
He served 13 months of his sentence before being released on house arrest until August 2008.
In December that year, Andrew was photographed walking through Central Park with Epstein.
Three years later, amid mounting criticism of his relationship with the convicted pedophile, Andrew stepped down from his role as British trade envoy.
Fergie attempts to sell access to Andrew
In 2010, Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was filmed offering an undercover reporter, who was posing as a wealthy Arab man, access to Prince Andrew for half a million dollars.
Andrew’s disastrous interview with the BBC
In July 2019, Epstein is once again charged with sex trafficking. While awaiting sentencing, he reportedly ended his own life in his prison cell.
In November of the same year, Prince Andrew sat down with journalist Emily Maitlis from the BBC for an interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein, denied having sex with Virginia and claimed he doesn’t even remember meeting the teenager.
After the disastrous interview, Kensington Palace announced Andrew would be stepping back from public duties “for the foreseeable future”.
Virginia Giuffre files a civil lawsuit against Andrew
In 2021, Virginia filed a civil lawsuit against Andrew in New York.
Andrew attempted to get the case dismissed before settling with Virginia out of court for $24 million.
He made no admission of liability but soon after Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth was stripping her youngest son of his honorary military affiliations and would no longer allow him to use the title ‘His Royal Highness’ in an official capacity.
Andrew’s email exchange with Jeffrey Epstein is leaked
Despite claiming he cut off all ties with Epstein in 2010, British newspapers revealed that he sent an email to his former friend in 2019.
In the email, Andrew allegedly told Epstein they were “in this together and will have to rise above it” before adding: “Otherwise, keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!”
On October 19 this year, Andrew announced he was voluntarily giving up his title of ‘Duke of York’ but would remain a prince as “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.
Virginia Giuffre’s memoir is released posthumously
On October 24, Virginia Giuffre’s memoir was released in which she details the alleged assaults she claims to have endured at the hands of Prince Andrew.
In the memoir. Virginia recounts how she was told by Maxwell in a singsongy voice that “just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!”
When she was introduced to Andrew, Maxwell allegedly asked the former prince to guess the girl’s age and he correctly guessed it was 17.
“My daughters are just a little younger than you,” she recalls him saying in the book. Andrew vigorously denies all allegations of wrongdoing and has also denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre.
King Charles strips Andrew of his royal titles and privileges
Just a week later on October 31, King Charles announced he was stripping his younger brother of his royal titles and privileges.
“His Majesty today has initiated a formal process today to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the statement begins.
The King continued on to say that Andrew would now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his lease on Royal Lodge would be cancelled and he would have to make alternative arrangements for private accommodation.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the statement continues.
“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.”
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