Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, looks set to be stripped of his latest honorary military title as the British royals continue to try to distance themselves from the younger brother of King Charles III over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“We’ve seen Andrew give up the military positions he’s held and we’re now looking at the one position he has left, which is the position of honorary vice admiral, and we have a process in place to remove him,” Defense Secretary John Healey said in Britain. Sky News on sunday
In an interview on the same topic with network partner CBS News BBC Newsthe head of defense said “we have to take the move indicated by the king”.
Mountbatten Windsor is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II. She spent decades in public life as an employee of the royal family, but Epstein’s revelations of her historical connections have made her a pariah. In 2016, he was named in a civil lawsuit filed Virginia GiuffreEpstein has alleged that he paid for sex with the former prince on several occasions. Mountbatten Windsor has repeatedly denied the claims, but settled out of court with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
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However, the deal did not stop criticism of the former prince and pressure on the royal family, as new information about his historical links to Epstein continued to emerge. The damn interview of 2019 With the BBC’s Newsnight, where he defended his links with the shameless financier.
In the years following that conversation, until this year, amid revelations about correspondence between Epstein and the then-prince, the royal family was reluctant to intervene, allowing him to step away from public duties and voluntarily relinquish many of his titles and privileges.
Last week, however, in a major move, King Charles announced that he would abdicate his younger brother title of prince and told him to leave his 30-room taxpayer-funded Royal Lodge home in Windsor.
One of the few titles Andrew Mountbatten Windsor still holds is that of Honorary Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy, which he received on his 55th birthday in 2015. It is unclear how long the process to remove that title could take, which defense chief Healy has now confirmed is underway.
The former prince had a 22-year career in the Royal Navy, including serving as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War and in command of the anti-mine ship HMS Cottesmore.
Asked about the ongoing scandal, President Trump told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell in an interview on Sunday’s 60 Minutes that it’s “a terrible thing that’s happened” to the royal family.
“It was a tragic situation,” he said. “And, I mean, I feel bad for the family.”
CBS News has reached out to the royal family for comment on the former prince being stripped of his Royal Naval title.