King Charles arrived for a Sunday church service at Sandringham this morning, appearing at peace amid the ongoing furore over his younger brother Prince Andrew. Photographs show the monarch strolling through green pastures in a long beige coat on his way to St. Mary Magdalene Church, where he was greeted by Revd Canon Dr Paul Williams with a smile.
It comes just days after Charles stripped Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence, following weeks of pressure over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Palace insiders said the move was a sign of the monarch's 'steel' as he made the private communication to break the news of his decision.
Demand had been growing on the palace to oust the prince from the Royal Lodge after he surrendered his use of the title Duke of York earlier this month over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. But the king went even further by removing the title of prince that Andrew has held since birth as a child of a monarch.
Following the king's move, Andrew will have to vacate his Royal Lodge mansion near Windsor Castle. The Royal Collection Trust is reportedly set to remove artworks that have hung there since the Queen Mother's time, including the 19th-century oil painting Eugenie, Empress of the French by Edouard Boutibonne. Another artefact expected to be removed is an ancient sword that Andrew's daughter Princess Beatrice accidentally sliced singer Ed Sheeran's face with while pretending to knight musician James Blunt at a party.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Thursday that the King's moves against Andrew were 'deemed necessary notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.' The statement added: 'Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.'
It is almost unprecedented for a British prince or princess to be stripped of that title. It last happened in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus had his British title removed for siding with Germany during World War I. Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre's allegations, which she detailed in her posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl.
