LONDON: King Charles III on Thursday stripped his disgraced brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Buckingham Palace said the king “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.”
After the king’s rare move, Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and not as a prince, and he will move from his Royal Lodge residence into “private accommodation.”
It is almost unprecedented for a British prince or princess to be stripped of that title. It last happened in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus, who was a UK royal and also a prince of Hanover, had his British title removed for siding with Germany during World War I.
Demand had been growing on the palace to oust the prince from Royal Lodge after he surrendered his use of the title Duke of York earlier this month over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir hit bookstores last week.
But the king went even further to punish him for serious lapses of judgment by removing the title of prince that he has held since birth as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said. “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.”
Giuffre’s brother declared victory for his sister, who died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
“Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” her brother Skye Roberts said in a statement.
Andrew faced a new round of public opprobrium after emails emerged earlier this month showing he had remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted.
That news was followed by publication of “Nobody’s Girl,” by Giuffre, who alleged she had sex with Andrew when she was 17. The book detailed three alleged sexual encounters with Andrew, who she said acted as if he believed “having sex with me was his birthright.”
Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre’s claims, but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous November 2019 BBC interview in which he attempted to rebut her allegations.
Andrew paid millions in an out-of-court settlement in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil suit against him in New York. While he didn’t admit wrongdoing, he acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.
Although Charles was involved in discussions with Andrew before he announced he would relinquish his dukedom two weeks ago, the king had largely managed to steer clear of the scandal until this week.
After attending an event at Lichfield Cathedral on Monday, the king was heckled by a man who shouted questions about how long he had known about his brother and Epstein and then asked: “Have you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?”
The king did not respond and it wasn’t clear if he even heard the man, who was shouted down by others and eventually pulled from sight.
But video of the incident made the evening news and was the source of embarrassing headlines the next morning.
The move by the king means Andrew will no longer be a prince or be known as His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, Earl of Inverness or Baron Killyleagh — all titles he held until now. Also gone are honors that include Order of the Garter and status as Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order.
Andrew is expected to move to a property on the king’s Sandringham estate near the northeast coast and receive private financial support from his brother.
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who had been living with him in the 30-room mansion, will have to find a new home.
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King Charles III strips Prince Andrew of titles and evicts him from royal residence
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King Charles III strips Prince Andrew of titles and evicts him from royal residence
- Buckingham Palace said the king “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew“
- “These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said
Louvre thieves escaped with 30 seconds to spare, probe reveals
- Probe found only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19
PARIS: The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19.
Agents in the security control room did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission stated.
“It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues,” the head of the commission, Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.
One of the most startling revelations was that the robbers left only 30 seconds before police and private security guards arrived on the scene.
“Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (private security) guards or the police officers in a car could have prevented the thieves from escaping,” the head of the investigation, Noel Corbin, told senators.
He said that measures such as a modern CCTV system, more resistant glass in the door cut open with angle grinders, or better internal coordination could have prevented the loss of the jewels — worth an estimated $102 million — which have still not been found.
Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several studies seen by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels.
Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder — exactly what transpired in the heist.
‘Stunned’
Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars had not been aware of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Jean-Luc Martinez.
“The recommendations were not acted on and they would have enabled us to avoid this robbery,” Corbin said, adding that there had been a lack of coordination between the two government-appointed administrators.
Police believe they have arrested all four intruders, who escaped on powerful motorbikes, having carried out the heist in the Apollo Gallery in around 10 minutes in total, according to the investigation.
The revelations on Wednesday are likely to pile more pressure des Cars, the first woman in the role who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.
Questions have swirled since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure that is the world’s most-visited museum appeared to be so poorly protected.
France’s lower house of parliament is carrying out its own inquiry, while des Cars and Martinez are set to be grilled by senators next week.
Last month, France’s state auditor said security upgrades had been carried out at a “woefully inadequate pace” and the museum had prioritized “high-profile and attractive operations” instead of protecting itself.
Senior police officer Guy Tubiana, a security adviser at the culture ministry who took part in the investigation, told senators he was “stunned” by what he had discovered at the museum.
“There was a succession of malfunctions that led to catastrophe but I never would have thought the Louvre could have so many malfunctions,” he said.
Staff at the Louvre at set to go on strike on Monday to demand management act against what they see as understaffing and overcrowding at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million people last year.
At the weekend, the museum revealed that a water leak had damaged 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department in late November.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the intruders broke in on the morning of Sunday October 19.
Agents in the security control room did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission stated.
“It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues,” the head of the commission, Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.
One of the most startling revelations was that the robbers left only 30 seconds before police and private security guards arrived on the scene.
“Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (private security) guards or the police officers in a car could have prevented the thieves from escaping,” the head of the investigation, Noel Corbin, told senators.
He said that measures such as a modern CCTV system, more resistant glass in the door cut open with angle grinders, or better internal coordination could have prevented the loss of the jewels — worth an estimated $102 million — which have still not been found.
Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several studies seen by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels.
Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder — exactly what transpired in the heist.
‘Stunned’
Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars had not been aware of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Jean-Luc Martinez.
“The recommendations were not acted on and they would have enabled us to avoid this robbery,” Corbin said, adding that there had been a lack of coordination between the two government-appointed administrators.
Police believe they have arrested all four intruders, who escaped on powerful motorbikes, having carried out the heist in the Apollo Gallery in around 10 minutes in total, according to the investigation.
The revelations on Wednesday are likely to pile more pressure des Cars, the first woman in the role who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.
Questions have swirled since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure that is the world’s most-visited museum appeared to be so poorly protected.
France’s lower house of parliament is carrying out its own inquiry, while des Cars and Martinez are set to be grilled by senators next week.
Last month, France’s state auditor said security upgrades had been carried out at a “woefully inadequate pace” and the museum had prioritized “high-profile and attractive operations” instead of protecting itself.
Senior police officer Guy Tubiana, a security adviser at the culture ministry who took part in the investigation, told senators he was “stunned” by what he had discovered at the museum.
“There was a succession of malfunctions that led to catastrophe but I never would have thought the Louvre could have so many malfunctions,” he said.
Staff at the Louvre at set to go on strike on Monday to demand management act against what they see as understaffing and overcrowding at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million people last year.
At the weekend, the museum revealed that a water leak had damaged 300 to 400 journals, books and documents in the Egyptian department in late November.
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