How Andrew could be stripped of his 'Prince' title when William becomes king as scandal-hit duke faces fresh turmoil over claims in bombshell royal book

Daily Mail​

06-08-2025

The future King William may be able to strip his disgraced uncle, the Duke of York, of his titles, a Royal expert claims.
Prince Andrew's scandalous and faux pas-ridden life - from the scores of alleged sexual conquests to his boorish and vulgar character - has been outlined in extracts from a new book serialised in the Mail.
Andrew Lownie's book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York - also recounts the Duke's seeming infidelity and suggestions he abused his Foreign Office role to boost his own wealth on taxpayer-funded trips.
The excruciating revelations have prompted fresh questions over whether the Duke should retain his titles - but his brother, King Charles III, is unlikely to deviate from his mother's famous stance of 'never complain, never explain'.
Queen Elizabeth II was - famously - resolutely silent on all matters concerning her family in public.
And the King has followed, conducting his battles with his brother over the Royal Lodge behind closed doors to avoid airing regal laundry in public.
But royal historian Christopher Wilson believes that policy could be dropped when the time comes for Charles' son to take the throne.
William, he said, would be less worried about the short-term headline scandal that could unfold in seeking to strip Andrew's titles than the ongoing long-term damage to the Firm wreaked by allowing him to remain on the books.
Prince Andrew has retained his titles despite stepping back from royal duties - with his brother, King Charles III, thought to be reluctant to commit to such a public act (pictured 2012)
The Duke of York, pictured on Easter Sunday this year, has practically zero chance of returning to public life following a series of scandals
In addition, Mr Wilson has argued, the mechanism allowing William to revoke his uncle's titles could be easy to introduce via Parliament.
It could finally mean Andrew's existing unofficial severance is formalised after years of scandal after embarrassing scandal.
He remains devastatingly unpopular. Just nine percent of people polled by YouGov in the second quarter of 2025 have a favourable view of him.
Mr Wilson, who is also a royal biographer, said of Elizabeth II's 'never complain, never explain' stance: 'I think to a large extent Charles has adhered to that as a safe policy – the moment you start tearing the family apart, where does it stop?
'With William it will be a different approach – he has hard-nosed ideas about how the Royal family needs to appear in the frenzied social media world we now inhabit, and I think will be ruthless.'
Charles is thought to have sought to address the 'Andrew question' early in his reign - but his cancer diagnosis saw his priorities change.
Since then, his brother has been embroiled in further scandals.
As well as his connections with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Duke was forced to deny ever sharing information with an alleged Chinese spy who served as a close advisor on his business ventures.
His relationship with Yang Tengbo caught the attention of British intelligence services, who had to contact the Duke to warn him off amid fears Mr Tengbo was seeking to use his royal connection to his advantage.
The King has withdrawn his brother's allowance even while appearing to surrender in the war over the Royal Lodge residence.
Andrew must now keep the 30-room estate in Windsor Great Park maintained at his own expense - which he appears to be capable of despite a bill thought to run into the millions.
The Duke has seen largely excused himself from all but the most occasional of public outings - joining the family on their Christmas walk at Sandringham and attending St George's Chapel for the Easter Sunday service.
But the Telegraph has reported sources as suggesting that William will 'not shy away' from taking action on his uncle if the duty falls to him as future King.
As for how his various titles can be removed, the King - both present and future - various machinations exist, or can be put in place.
Andrew's Order of the Garter, Britain's highest order of chivalry could be stripped away after he was granted it by Elizabeth II in 2006. It is removed from those guilty of charges such as heresy or treason.
The Duke of York has not taken part in the annual public Garter Day parade since 2019, following his fall from grace.
His Dukedom could be struck off by way of Parliament. A Private Members' Bill sponsored by MP Rachael Maskell in 2022 sought to grant the Monarch 'powers to remove titles'.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ms Maskell is the MP for York Central. Nine in 10 local people wanted to see Andrew stripped of his title in 2022, loathing his ongoing connection with the city. He has already been stripped of the Freedom of York.
His princedom and HRH title - the latter already informally withdrawn with Andrew's agreement - could be revoked by way of Letters Patent, documents signed by the monarch that grant rights and titles (and can equally take them away).
But sources told the newspaper it would likely be achieved via Parliament in order to preserve the Monarchy as an element of the UK's modern day government, rather than an overriding influence.
The Mail's devastating serialisation of a new book on Andrew has laid bare his boorish and vulgar character and daily habits
It is likely that when Andrew dies, his Dukedom will die with him - almost certainly irrevocably stained. The title reverts to the Crown on his death, and it would be the Monarch's decision whether to bestow it again.
On William, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their family, were notably absent from this year's Easter Sunday service, instead spending Easter in Norfolk. Andrew attended the service with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York.
The service came five days before Virginia Giuffre, who had accused the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell of trafficking her to the Duke of York, died by suicide.
Ms Giuffre alleged that the Duke had forced her into sex - and the so-called 'Epstein files' detailed how a woman thought to be her had been compelled into taking part in 'an orgy with numerous other underaged girls '.
Andrew settled with Ms Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum, thought to be around £12million, with his late mother thought to have contributed to the payment.
The settlement came with no admission of liability.
Kensington Palace declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail today. The Duke of York could not be reached for comment.