The King has initiated a “formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”, who will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
He will also be moved out of Royal Lodge.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. 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.”
It comes a day after Parliament’s spending watchdog raised concerns over the value for money of Prince Andrew’s living arrangements after he stepped down as a working member of the Royal family.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wrote to the Treasury and the Crown Estate on Wednesday, asking them to explain the rationale behind the lease on the 30-room mansion by November 28.
The King’s brother has come under increasing pressure following revelations in the posthumous memoir of Andrew’s sex accuser, Virginia Giuffre.
Calls intensified for Andrew to give up his Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park after it emerged he paid a “peppercorn rent” – a token amount that typically exists only to ensure the lease is valid – for more than 20 years.
Andrew had sought to draw a line under years of controversy by giving up his royal title and honours earlier this month, following “continued allegations” against him in relation to Epstein.
But the prince, who strenuously denies the allegations, was instead swamped by criticism focused on the property he has lived in effectively rent-free since 2003.
In a letter on Wednesday, PAC chairman and Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “There is considerable and understandable public interest in the spending of public money in relation to Prince Andrew, which in part stems from the fact that he is no longer a working royal and from serious and disturbing allegations made against him.”
He asked a series of questions, including whether the cost of any work on the property had been funded by the taxpayer, and whether an unredacted copy of the lease could be provided.
“Does the current tenancy remain the most appropriate use of the Royal Lodge in light of the recent changed role for Prince Andrew, and if so, on what grounds?” Sir Geoffrey wrote.
In her memoir, Ms Giuffre – who died by suicide in April – alleged that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew three times, including when she was 17, and also after she was trafficked by Epstein, claims the prince vehemently denies.
She also outlined the pressure she claimed she faced from Andrew’s legal teams.
The King has long been said to have tried to encourage his younger brother, who lived in the home with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, to move out, but Andrew signed a watertight 75-year lease on the property in 2003.
His leasehold agreement revealed he paid £1 million for the lease and that since then he paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” a year.
He was also required to pay a further £7.5 million for refurbishments completed in 2005, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
Politicians from across the aisle have backed the King’s decision to strip Prince Andrew of his titles and Royal Lodge residence.
Buckingham Palace said Andrew has agreed to leave his 30-room Windsor mansion, after an outcry over the “peppercorn rent” he has paid for more than 20 years.
The monarchy has faced mounting pressure to take action as public fury over Andrew’s links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein was fuelled by revelations in the posthumous memoir of his sex accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew sought to draw a line under years of controversy by announcing earlier this month that he would stop using his Duke of York title.
The King has now begun the formal process of removing his brother’s titles and honours.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Charles “is absolutely right” to do so.
He added: “It’s clear that Andrew’s position had become totally untenable, having disgraced his office and embarrassed the country.
“This is an important step towards rebuilding trust in our institutions and drawing a line under this whole sorry saga.”
The Lib Dems had urged the Government to make time for a debate on Andrew’s Royal Lodge lease in Parliament.
He has lived there on a peppercorn rent since 2003, although he paid £1 million for the lease and a further £7.5 million for refurbishments.
But Downing Street last week said MPs would not be given time in the House of Commons to discuss his conduct because the royal family wanted Parliament to focus on “important issues”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it must have been “very difficult” for the King to take the steps against his sibling, but that it was right for the public not to tolerate sexual abuse allegations.
Speaking on an LBC Radio phone-in, she said: “I’ve been following this story more about a family. It’s a very sad state of affairs.
“I think that the King has clearly felt that this is the right decision for the royal family. It must have been a very difficult thing for him to have done. I mean, having to do that to your own brother.
“But the standards and expectations in society now are very high. People expect to see the very highest levels of integrity.
“And I’m afraid the whole Jeffrey Epstein saga and everyone it has touched, from Prince Andrew to Peter Mandelson, has just shown that the public has no truck whatsoever with any kind of sexual abuse, sexual offences, especially of minors. And I think that that’s quite right.”
The leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said on X: “The right decision and an important moment for the victims of Epstein.
“I hope all those who were elected to Parliament and chose to defend inaction rather than speak out now regret the choice they made.”
The SNP had put forward a motion to create a new law to formally strip Andrew of his dukedom.
Andrew vehemently denies the late Ms Giuffre’s allegations that she was forced to have sex with him three times, including when she was 17, and also during an orgy after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Prince Andrew’s daughters will remain in the royal fold after the King began the formal process to strip him of his titles in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Buckingham Palace said Andrew, who will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, has also agreed to leave his home of Royal Lodge, as his links to paedophile financier Epstein continue to cause controversy.
It is understood that although Andrew denies the accusations, Buckingham Palace considers that there have been “serious lapses of judgment”.
As daughters of the son of a Sovereign, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will retain their titles in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
The sisters will be welcome to join the gathering at Sandringham for Christmas and other royal family events, it is understood.
Beatrice, 37, was at the King’s Norfolk estate last Christmas, attending the morning service at St Mary Magdalene church, while her father was absent amid the controversy surrounding his links to an alleged Chinese spy.
Ninth in line to the throne, Beatrice is an adviser for Afiniti, an artificial intelligence software firm, and a co-founder of The Big Change Charitable Trust.
She has a number of royal patronages, including the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity.
Eugenie, 12th in line to the throne, is also a patron of several charities, including the Elephant Family, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the European School of Osteopathy, and also co-founded the Anti-Slavery Collective charity.
The princess, 35, became a mentor for The King’s Foundation’s 35 under 35 network of changemakers earlier this year and is a director at the contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth in London.
Both sisters are married and have children.
Beatrice married millionaire property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret lockdown wedding in 2020, attended by her grandparents, the Queen and Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, after her planned ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic.
Known as Edo, Mr Mapelli Mozzi is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Williams-Ellis.
Eugenie married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank in a glittering ceremony in the gothic surroundings of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in front of royal and celebrity guests in October 2018.
Mr Brooksbank has worked as a European brand director of Casamigos Tequila, co-founded by actor George Clooney.
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