Prince Andrew’s statement announcing he would be relinquishing all his remaining royal titles contained a hidden message about Prince William‘s involvement, a royal expert has claimed.
The disgraced royal last night announced he would no longer be known as the Duke of York and was stepping down from membership of the Order of the Garter – the country’s most ancient order of chivalry.
Prince Andrew said the decision had been made in discussion with the King and the rest of his family and was a result of the ‘continued accusations against him’.
Royal expert Jennie Bond explained that she was ‘struck’ by the use of the pronoun ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ at points in the statement.
She said this suggests that ‘extreme pressure’ has been put on Prince Andrew from King Charles and Prince William from behind the scenes.
Ms Bond told Sky News: ‘I am struck by the use of the pronoun “we”.
‘This is a clear indication that extreme pressure has been put on Prince Andrew to do the decent thing if you like and fall on his sword.
‘If he hadn’t fallen on his sword he would have been pushed very firmly onto it.
Prince Andrew at the Order of the Garter service in 2019 outside St George’s Chapel in Windsor – he will now relinquish his Knight of the Garter status, as well as the title of Duke of York
Royal expert Jenny Bond explained that she was ‘struck’ by the use of the pronoun ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ throughout Andrew’s statement
Prince Andrew’s statement was released by Buckingham Palace on Friday night
‘He could not go on with all these headlines which are indeed distracting from the work of the family.
‘I think there have been some pointed words between Charles and I think William, very much in the background putting the pressure on Andrew to do what most of us would see as the decent thing.’
In his statement, Prince Andrew made clear he continues to deny allegations of sexual assault made against him by the late Virginia Giuffre, who he met through paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But he conceded continued revelations about his dealings with Epstein, as reported by The Mail on Sunday, were a ‘distraction’ from the good work of the Royal Family.
He said his decision was prompted by his desire to ‘always… put my duty to my family and country first’ – echoing his infamous comment that he chose to break off relations with Epstein by flying to New York to tell him the news personally, because he was an ‘honourable’ man.
Royal expert Ms Bond, however, highlighted the fact that Prince Andrew says in his statement that he will stop ‘using’ his titles, not give them up.
She said: ‘I’m also struck by the fact that he says “I won’t use my title”. He’s not actually giving it up.
‘He must be referring to his dukedom which was given to him by his mother in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson who will no longer be a Duchess.’
Virginia Giuffre photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London in 2001
Virginia Giuffre’s family have said she has been ‘vindicated’ after Prince Andrew gave up his royal titles last night, adding that ‘these monsters can’t escape’ (Pictured: Virginia Giuffre)
Last night, in a statement, the family of Ms Giuffre, who took her own life in April, said Andrew’s decision was ‘vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere’.
They added: ‘This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained, “He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me”.’
Last weekend, the MoS exclusively revealed that Andrew had publicly lied when he claimed he never had contact with Epstein again following a ‘final’ meeting with him in December 2010.
It obtained emails sent 12 weeks after that meeting in which Andrew contacted the sex offender to reassure him, the day after a picture of the prince with Ms Giuffre was published, that ‘we are in this together’ and would have to ‘rise above it’.
Sickeningly, Andrew concluded: ‘Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!’ It was signed ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’, as a knight of the Order of the Garter.
It was also revealed that Andrew met, on at least three occasions, the alleged Chinese spymaster at the centre of the current Whitehall espionage case.
Sources have told the Daily Mail that things came to a head this week after a ‘constant drip, drip’ of fresh claims, of which the MoS’s email revelations proved the ‘most significant issue’.
The changes will take effect immediately and were decided upon in recognition of the fact that the prince’s personal issues continued to be an ‘unwelcome distraction’ from the work of the wider Royal Family.
King Charles III is said to be ‘glad’ his brother has given up his titles after discussions with Andrew and his son, Prince William
However, the King has acknowledged that he cannot legally force Andrew out of his Royal Lodge home and he will continue to remain there so long as he can afford the rent.
The prince has a 100-year-plus private tenancy agreement with the Crown Estate which is said to be ‘unaffected’ by issues relating to his honours and titles.
The prince’s titles, rather than being stripped from him, are ‘in abeyance’ – they effectively remain ‘extant but inactive’.
It is understood that part of the King’s thinking was to prevent a waste of parliamentary time formally taking the titles away. Any move to do so would have required an Act of Parliament.
But His Majesty was also very keen to ‘protect’ Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who remain Her Royal Highnesses as granddaughters of Queen Elizabeth.
If their father’s titles had been removed, theirs would have been affected too, and Charles was keen to avoid this as he holds them ‘in high regard and affection’.
‘He wouldn’t have wanted to sign off on anything that would impact them,’ a source said.
Andrew remains a prince because he is the son of Queen Elizabeth II, according to Letters Patent – a written expression of wishes by a monarch – issued in 1917 by George V, updated by Queen Elizabeth in 2012.
A source confirmed: ‘The title of duke will not be used and consider in ‘abeyance’.
‘His HRH title is already inactive. The prince’s other titles and honours now join it.’
Notably Andrew formally remains a Counsellor of State: to act on behalf of the King, in ‘limited and defined circumstances’ should he become incapacitated or is abroad. Prince Harry is another who could theoretically act in such circumstances.
But sources stressed that it was already made clear, via Parliament in 2022, that non-working members of the Royal Family will not be called to serve in this capacity so the position is again inactive and not worth taking up parliamentary time to change.
Sources also confirmed – as previously revealed by the Mail – that Andrew will not join the Royal Family at Christmas at Sandringham ever again, although his daughters are welcome.
A royal source told the Mail: ‘There is relief that this is over.’
