Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will continue to hold the title Duke of York by law, as the Government has stated there is “no need” to introduce legislation to remove it. The King officially stripped his brother of his prince title and HRH style earlier this month, and removed him from the Roll of the Peerage as the Duke of York. However, the dukedom itself, granted upon Andrew’s marriage to Sarah Ferguson in July 1986, cannot be abolished without an Act of Parliament.
According to a Commons research briefing, while Andrew cannot be referred to as a duke in official documents, the peerage itself remains intact. The Government was pressed at Westminster on whether it would bring in legislation to give effect to the King’s decision to remove all titles from Andrew. In response to a written question from Labour peer Viscount Stansgate, Labour frontbencher Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent confirmed that the entitlement to the title of ‘Prince’ and the style of ‘Royal Highness’ had been removed by Letters Patent. She added that the title of Duke of York had been removed from the Roll of the Peerage and would no longer be used officially, concluding that there was “no need for legislation to implement the measures that have been announced.”
Andrew was stripped of his titles amid ongoing controversy over his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the heightened scrutiny following the death of his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, in April. He paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with her in 2022, though the settlement was not an admission of guilt, and he strenuously denies the allegations. The Metropolitan Police is also investigating claims that Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s personal details to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011.
Andrew is expected to move from Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park to the King’s private Sandringham estate in the new year. Buckingham Palace hopes the recent actions will draw a line under the scandal that has dogged Andrew since Ms Giuffre’s allegations.
