Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his remaining royal titles by the King. Photo / Getty Images
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been formally stripped of his last remaining royal titles.
The King formally “cancelled and annulled” his brother’s membership of the Order of the Garter in an official announcement at midday on Monday in The Gazette, the country’s official public record.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s title as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order was also annulled, and his name was “erased” from the register of those holding the honours.
He was already stripped of his birthright to be a prince, the title of His Royal Highness (HRH) and had his Duke of York title removed from the Roll of the Peerage by the King for his “serious lapses of judgment” over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile.
The entry in the Gazette reads: “The King has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor to be a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated 23 April 2006, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.
“The King has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, dated 19 February 2011, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”
The Order of the Garter is the country’s oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry and the honour is awarded in recognition of public service – with recipients personally chosen by the monarch.
The Royal Victorian Order recognises service to the monarch, and is also awarded personally by them.
Mountbatten-Windsor has for many years faced allegations that he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre, a teenager at the time, after she was trafficked by Epstein. He denies the accusations.
The scandal threatens to further engulf Mountbatten-Windsor after Sir Keir Starmer suggested that he should testify to the US Congress over his links to Epstein.
He had failed to respond to requests to a summons from the Democratic members of the House oversight committee, which were made before the publication of the Epstein files.
Until that point, Starmer had largely avoided commenting on Mountbatten-Windsor’s involvement with Epstein, in line with government protocol of not criticising the royal family.
But that changed after the palace’s announcement on October 30 that Mountbatten-Windsor would be stripped of his titles of Prince and Duke of York, as well as his other titles as the Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and HRH.
Mountbatten-Windsor reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, with no admission of guilt, in 2022. Giuffre, who took her own life in April, accused him of sexual abuse and rape.
The Metropolitan Police is “actively looking into” allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor asked his taxpayer-funded police protection officer to investigate Giuffre after obtaining her date of birth and social security number.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s association with Epstein – which included visits to the financier’s private island, Little St James – have plagued him for over five years, having stood down from all royal duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview.
He faces the prospect of having more details of his relationship with Epstein made public in the coming days.
Donald Trump signed a bill last month ordering the release of the Epstein files, after previously resisting pressure to publish the emails, which could include evidence of his own association with Epstein.
The US President changed his mind after congressional members of his own party began to join calls to release the files.
Mountbatten-Windsor remains a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy despite the Government pledging to remove the honorary rank.
He is set to move from Royal Lodge in Windsor to the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk at some point in the new year.
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