Prince Andrew has announced that he will no longer use his royal titles. However, could it be too late to change the public’s opinion of King Charles’s infamous brother?
Prince Andrew renounces every title he holds.
Prince Andrew hasn’t been a royal in operation for nearly six years. The late Queen Elizabeth’s favorite son, and consequently the entire Royal Family, has suffered for too long from allegations of sexual assault, inappropriately close relationships with convicted sex offenders, and alleged spies.
In infamous remarks that he found himself “too honourable” to cut ties with Epstein, Andrew “categorically denies” sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre three times when she was 17; this is among other allegations that were made against him. He added that his accuser’s account could not be accurate because, when she claimed he assaulted her, he was both physically unable to sweat and conveniently eating pizza with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, at Pizza Express in Woking.
The disgraced younger brother of King Charles will no longer be using his royal titles, even though he still legally own them, as a result of renewed scrutiny of the scandals surrounding Andrew and the upcoming publication of his accuser’s posthumous memoir. Before Parliament removes him from his family, Andrew’s “honorable” nature must have returned because he is doing it voluntarily, as a royal source claimed he should.
Andrew claimed to have cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein while they were photographed walking in a park together in 2010 in New York. During the trip, Andrew claimed to have done so because it was “convenient,” even though he acknowledged that it was probably the “wrong” choice with the aid of “hindsight.”
The now-infamous photo of Virginia, Maxwell, and Andrew at the socialite’s London residence was first published in 2011. Giuffre claimed Epstein took the photo and gave it to US authorities for examination in 2011 after Andrew claimed it was a picture of a picture and that it cannot be relied upon.
Andrew told the royal, “We’re in this together,” and begged the sex offender to “keep in touch,” and promised “we’ll play some more soon,” in an email that recently came out shortly after the photo’s publication.
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Prince Andrew abruptly resigned from his position as head of state in 2019 after shocking the nation with his confrontation with Newsnight. In 2022, Virginia Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against him in the US in response to widespread outcry, stripped of all of his royal patronages, military honors, and faced legal action as a “private citizen”;
Andrew settled the case with Giuffre, reportedly for millions, as a “private citizen,” whose mother wore the crown, whose brother soon would, and whose family wealth is determined by their royal position. But remember, Andrew claims he never met her.
Virginia’s family claimed that the “toll of abuse… became intolerable” when she committed suicide in her home in Western Australia in April of this year. She had three teenage children at the age of 41. Her family praised Andrew’s decision to renounce his royal title as a “vindication.”
They stated in a statement that this is not just a victory for her, but also for every survivor of the heinous crimes committed by Epstein and his associates.
However, Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie, Andrew’s biographer, called the move “window dressing” and “symbolic.”
Lownie continued, “A much firmer line should have been taken,” adding that the statement “was pretty offensive.”
The Crown itself is the ultimate symbol, but Lownie is correct that the move is symbolic. The totem and metaphor serve as the frameworks by which King Charles is able to operate effectively. The gesture, therefore, is not entirely worthless, and while it won’t change how the general public perceives Andrew, Charles, William, and other royals have shown a strong commitment to the crown over family loyalty, which might appeal to some people.
Andrew cannot escape the fact that his existence and the absence of implications for serious allegations he faces are both deeply symbolic, whether he uses the royal titles that come with being a member of his particular family or not.
According to Rape Crisis, 71,227 rapes were recorded in England and Wales by police in 2024, but charges were brought in only 2.4 per cent of cases. Victims of sexual assault are let down on a systemic scale, leading the charity to say: “ Rape and sexual abuse have been effectively decriminalised.”
A “firmer line” should be what such serious allegations call for, Lownie was right, but as it stands, the leniency with which Andrew has been treated perfectly exemplifies the status quo and what victims are treated with across the nation.
Therefore, such allegations are being tried in the court of public opinion because the courts that we ought to have relied on are deceiving so many. The court of public opinion is the only avenue of access we have today, without any assurance that the justice system will intervene against those who commit sexual crimes.
Andrew has also been given a failing rating in the courtroom.
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