Prince Andrew stripped of prince title and royal residence; Mr. Windsor maintains his innocence

Prince Andrew, who would now be king now had brother Charles been hit a little harder by that bus in the 1960s, will lose his formal princely title and must vacate the Royal Lodge. He will be known henceforth as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

"These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him," the Palace says

Here's the press release, signed by he.

An discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family. I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. 

With His Majesty's agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.

The reasons are plain enough: Andrew's long association with pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, credible accusations by Epstein victim Virginia Guiffre, and a seemingly endless drip of disgusting new details. The BBC doesn't report which straw broke the camel's back, but the most recent development was a photo of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstein's former girlfriend and a convicted sex trafficker) and Hollywood rapist Harvey Weinstein at the Royal lodge as Andrew's guests. This followed the release of Giuffre's memoirs, whose publication was not impeded by the settlement she won from the British royal family in 2022. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year.