LONDON, U.K.: King Charles III has stripped his brother Prince Andrew of all remaining royal titles and ordered him to leave his residence at Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace announced this week. The decision comes after weeks of growing pressure on the king to act over Andrew's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and renewed allegations from one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre.

Following the move, Andrew will no longer be referred to as a prince and will now be called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He will also lose his long-held residence near Windsor Castle. Earlier this month, he had already given up his title as Duke of York after new details surfaced about his continued contact with Epstein and the release of Giuffre's memoir, Nobody's Girl, which included sexual abuse allegations against him.

In a rare statement, Buckingham Palace said the king's decision was made "notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations." The statement added that the royal family's "thoughts and utmost sympathies remain with the victims and survivors of all forms of abuse."

It is extremely rare for a British royal to lose the title of prince. The last such case was in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus lost his title for siding with Germany during World War I.

Giuffre's brother, Skye Roberts, called the king's move a "victory" for his late sister, who died by suicide earlier this year. "An ordinary American girl brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage," he said in a statement to the BBC.

Prince Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre's claims that he had sex with her when she was 17. However, he faced renewed criticism this month after leaked emails showed he kept in touch with Epstein longer than he had previously admitted.

Andrew had already stepped back from public duties following his disastrous 2019 BBC interview, where he unsuccessfully tried to defend himself. In 2022, he paid millions to settle Giuffre's civil lawsuit in New York without admitting guilt but acknowledged her suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.

King Charles had largely avoided direct involvement in the scandal until recently. But public anger grew after he was heckled at a public event earlier this week with questions about his brother's links to Epstein.

The king's decision marks the most dramatic royal punishment in decades—comparable only to King Edward VIII's abdication in 1936 to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.

Andrew will lose all his titles, including His Royal Highness, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh, as well as his royal honors. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who shared the Royal Lodge with him, will also need to find a new home.