In October, Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles III had formally removed his brother — formerly known as Prince Andrew — from his remaining military titles and stripped him of his dukedom. The decision followed renewed and damaging allegations surrounding Andrew’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
At the same time, it was revealed that Andrew had been asked to vacate Royal Lodge, the Windsor residence he had shared with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, since 2004.
Titles Removed Amid Renewed Allegations
Less than a month later, further fallout followed ahead of the posthumous release of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir. In the book, Giuffre detailed alleged sexual encounters with Andrew when she was a minor. Shortly before its release, Andrew’s ‘Prince’ title was also formally dropped.
Ferguson, now 66, was not spared from the humiliation. She was required to relinquish her ‘Duchess of York’ title — a rare distinction she had retained following the couple’s divorce in 1996.
The title removal came after the resurfacing of a 2011 email she had sent to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In the message, Ferguson referred to Epstein as both “supreme” and a “dear, dear friend.”
In response, Ferguson’s representatives insisted the email had been written as part of an attempt to counter a defamation threat from the late financier, adding that she had already spoken publicly “of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago.”
Following the twin scandals, it was confirmed that neither Andrew nor Ferguson would be invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham with King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and other senior members of the royal family.
This led to speculation about how their daughters — Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35 — would mark the festive period.
A Royal Welcome for Beatrice and Eugenie
Despite their parents’ fall from grace, the King appears determined not to punish his nieces for circumstances beyond their control. On December 16, Beatrice and Eugenie were seen arriving at Buckingham Palace to attend the family’s annual Christmas lunch.