Former Prince Andrew to lose military title

Former Prince Andrew will be stripped of his final military title.

The move comes days after his brother, King Charles III, removed his younger brother’s princely title.

Andrew, who is now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, had held the rank of Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, a title held since he gave up all the other military positions in 2022, the BBC said.

He served 22 years in the Royal Navy, was a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War and was in command of mine countermeasures vessel HMS Cottesmore.

He was given the honorary rank in 2015, according to The Guardian.

Mountbatten Windsor’s only declared source of income comes from his navy pension and is about £20,000 a year, the news outlet reported. The king has apparently approved a one-time, six-figure payment for his brother and an annual stipend paid for personally by Charles, but financial arrangements are ongoing.

John Healey confirmed that ministers are working with the king to remove his brother’s naval honors. Healey is the Secretary of State for Defence in the United Kingdom.

“In general, the government has been guided by the decisions and judgments the king has made. In defense, it’s exactly the same,” Healey said, according to The Guardian.

“We’ve seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he’s had throughout the military, and guided again by the king, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has,” he added.

King Charles III strips prince title from Andrew, evicts him from Royal Lodge home

The move to take away all honors from Mountbatten Windsor came after the posthumous publication of the memoir of one of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre. She had accused Mountbatten Windsor of sexually assaulting her when she was 17 years old, suing him in 2021. He settled with her for an undisclosed amount of money, which was rumored to be about £12 million, Sky News reported.

He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Giuffre took her own life this year.

Emails were released over the weekend that showed Mountbatten Windsor writing to Epstein in 2010 after Epstein was released from jail on charges of soliciting prostitution.

The royal allegedly wrote Epstein, “I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon. I’ll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer. It would be good to catch up in person.”

They were also photographed in Central Park later that year.

In addition to losing his titles, Mountbatten Windsor will also have to leave his home, Royal Lodge, and relocate to Sandringham, but that move is not expected to happen until after the holidays since the extended royal family spends Christmas at the estate, The Guardian said.

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