The China Mail - Loss of title caps downfall of UK's Prince Andrew

The second son of Queen Elizabeth II, his reputation has been tarnished for years over a sex scandal and he had held little hope of returning to the royal family fold.

But the re-emergence of allegations that Andrew had sex with Virginia Giuffre, a victim of convicted US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, on three separate occasions, including when she was under 18, prompted the latest humiliating blow for the 65-year-old.

In excerpts published this week of her posthumous memoir, the woman at the centre of the Epstein scandal said the British royal behaved as if having sex with her was his "birthright".

Friday's announcement will see Andrew remain a prince, but he will stop using his remaining titles and honours.

"The monarchy simply had to put a stop to it," royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the BBC.

"He has dishonoured his titles. He's in disgrace."

- Settlement -

Andrew has been a persistent source of embarrassment for the monarchy ever since a devastating 2019 television interview in which he defended his friendship with the late Epstein.

He was stripped of his military titles in 2022 and shuffled off into retirement after being sued by Giuffre.

The prince, who denies the allegations, avoided trial by paying a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia on April 25.

Andrew now rarely makes public appearances and his popularity rating has plummeted to an all-time low, an abrupt fall for the prince, who had been widely portrayed in some media as the late Queen Elizabeth II's favourite child.

His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has added to the royal family's reputation woes -- numerous UK charities severed ties with her last month after a new email emerged in which she called Epstein a "supreme friend".

In the wake of Friday's announcement, Fergie -- as she is nicknamed -- will no longer use her Duchess of York title.

Her ex-husband's infamy has proven far-reaching -- even on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, The Prince Andrew School announced at the start of the year that it would change its name.

- 'Air Miles Andy' -

Celebrated briefly for his role in the Falklands War, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip was once a popular royal.

Internationally, he was best known for decades for his 1986 wedding to the fun-loving Fergie, boosting support for the royals five years after Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.

Andrew and Ferguson had two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, but divorced in 1996.

He left the navy in 2001 and became a special government trade envoy, earning a new nickname -- "Air Miles Andy" -- as he jetted around the world at taxpayers' expense.

Questions were asked about his judgement after links to the families of various dictators, and he faced repeated claims of being brash, arrogant and rude.

His playboy reputation -- and links to the disgraced multimillionaire Epstein -- ultimately proved his downfall.

He reportedly now spends much of his time at home at the princely 30-room Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle.

Last December, a court ruling revealed that a suspected Chinese spy enjoyed an "unusual degree of trust" from the prince, who had invited him to his 60th birthday party.

- Ridiculed -

Andrew no longer receives the yearly £250,000 ($315,000) awarded to active members of the royal family, and Charles -- who reportedly has wanted Andrew to leave the Royal Lodge -- has stopped paying him an annual £1 million allowance.

Andrew's private security alone -- no longer funded by the king -- is estimated to cost £3 million per year.

The Epstein scandal has loomed large over the prince for the best part of a decade.

Andrew denied ever meeting Giuffre, and suggested a photograph of him with his arm around her bare midriff was doctored.

He refused requests to meet US investigators before reaching a private settlement with her, preferring instead to allow his expensive lawyers to do the talking.

His 2019 BBC TV interview was seen as a PR disaster and he was criticised for arrogance and a lack of compassion for Epstein's victims.

He has also faced ridicule after countering a claim that he had been "profusely sweating" during an alleged encounter with Giuffre, saying he could not sweat because of a medical condition.

S.Davis--ThChM