The China Mail - UK welcomes king's move to strip Andrew of royal titles

The king's move to axe Andrew's prince title -- the first such action in more than a century -- is the latest humiliating fallout for the scandal-plagued royal over his links to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles also announced Thursday he was ousting his younger brother from his longtime home on Windsor Castle's sprawling grounds, after renewed accusations from one of Epstein's main accusers, Virginia Giuffre.

The posthumous publication of her memoir last week, reiterating in shocking detail allegations she was trafficked to have sex with Andrew three times, including twice when she was 17, sparked renewed public outcry.

"This is a huge, huge development," the memoir's ghostwriter Amy Wallace, told the BBC after Buckingham Palace released it's statement.

"To have somebody in power, somebody as respected as the king, say 'I believe you' -- that's historic. It's a credit to Virginia. It's a credit to her book."

The audience at a live taping of the BBC's flagship current affairs debate programme "Question Time" spontaneously applauded when the news was announced. Figures from across the political spectrum welcomed the move.

"This is a really brave, important, and right step by the king, and I fully support it," Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the audience, to further clapping.

- 'Not enough' -

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, took her own life in April aged 41.

Her US-based brother Sky Roberts hailed the decision, but told the BBC "it's not enough".

"I commend the king, I think he's doing an amazing job as a world leader, setting a precedent.

"But we need to take it one more step further: he needs to be behind bars," he said of Andrew.

Similar calls have been growing, with anti-monarchy pressure group Republic revealing Thursday it has instructed lawyers to explore if there is "sufficient evidence" to pursue a private prosecution.

London's Metropolitan Police have previously probed Giuffre's claims, but said in 2021 they were taking no further action after re-reviewing their investigation.

Andrew, 65, who is the second son of the late queen Elizabeth II, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

But he agreed to pay Giuffre millions of dollars in 2022 to end her civil sexual assault case against him.

- Heckled -

Three years on, the king has faced mounting pressure to act after an accumulation of renewed and fresh allegations prompted MPs to demand greater parliamentary scrutiny of some royal matters.

Independent lawmaker Rachael Maskell vowed Friday to press ahead with her private legislation to enable the monarch to remove peerages and titles.

In particular revelations that Andrew had effectively paid no rent on his 30-room royal mansion in Windsor as part of a seemingly favourable 2003 lease deal have sparked new criticism.

Charles's landmark Vatican visit last week was tarnished by the scandal, while he was heckled Monday during one public appearance visit by a man shouting: "How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?"

His decision will see his younger brother no longer called a prince and simply known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, he remains eighth in line to the throne.

The ousted royal will move shortly to a lodge on the king's Sandringham estate, in eastern England. This will be privately funded by Charles.

Broadcaster and historian Jonathan Dimbleby, a friend of the king, said the decision was a "huge step constitutionally," with the last stripping of a prince's title in 1919.

Describing Andrew as "arrogant, boorish, entitled", Dimbleby said he was now "effectively banished to the private estate at Sandringham".

Charles "will be feeling a measure of relief... and hope that for him and for the monarchy, it will now go away, he added.

"Although it won't, of course, for Andrew."

J.Thompson--ThChM