Prince Andrew

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (born February 19, 1960) is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He served in the Royal Navy, including during the 1982 Falklands War, and held the title Duke of York from his 1986 marriage to Sarah Ferguson. His association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell became the subject of sustained press coverage, a 2019 BBC interview, a 2021 civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, and a 2022 settlement. In late 2025 King Charles III initiated the removal of Andrew's royal style and titles, after which he is known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Andrew has consistently denied Giuffre's allegations.¹²

Epstein and Maxwell Friendship

Andrew developed a friendship with Epstein and Maxwell during the 1990s and 2000s, the connection running in part through Maxwell, whom Andrew had known socially in Britain. He stayed at Epstein properties, including the Manhattan townhouse and the Little St. James island, and was photographed in Epstein's company on multiple occasions, and Maxwell attended royal and society events alongside him. Epstein and Maxwell were guests at Windsor and at Sandringham, and Andrew hosted them at royal residences.¹

After Epstein's 2008 Florida conviction, Andrew remained in contact with him. In December 2010 Andrew stayed several days at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse, and a photograph from that visit showing the two men walking together in New York's Central Park drew criticism when it was published in 2011. Andrew said in 2019 that he had gone to New York to end the friendship in person, an account later disputed by reporting and released emails indicating he had been a guest at a dinner gathering at the townhouse during the stay.¹

Andrew served as a United Kingdom trade envoy, a Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, from 2001 until 2011, when he relinquished the role amid press attention to his associations, including the Central Park photograph and his ties to figures such as the Libyan and Tunisian governments. The relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, and the questions it raised, became the central thread of the controversy that followed.¹

The 2001 Photograph

A photograph dated to March 2001 shows Andrew with his arm around the waist of Giuffre, then 17, with Maxwell standing behind them in a doorway. According to the account associated with the image and with Giuffre's later filings, the photograph was taken at Maxwell's home in the Belgravia district of London. The Mail on Sunday published a cropped version of the photograph in 2011 and the full image circulated in 2019.³

Giuffre said she had been flown to London by Epstein, had gone to the Tramp nightclub with Andrew and others on the evening of March 10, 2001, and was then directed to have sex with Andrew at Maxwell's Belgravia house, an account Andrew has denied. Andrew questioned the photograph in public statements, saying in 2019 he had "no recollection" of the image being taken and could not confirm whether it had been doctored, while noting he was not in the habit of wearing the clothes shown. Maxwell, in her own statements, has at points cast doubt on the surrounding account. The original photograph was reported to be held by Giuffre's lawyers, and questions about the absence of the negative recurred in commentary.³

Andrew also addressed the photograph in the 2019 interview by saying the clothing and the setting did not match his recollection and by raising what he described as inconsistencies, while Maitlis pressed him on why he could not simply confirm or deny that he had been at the locations Giuffre described. He maintained that he had no memory of ever meeting Giuffre.⁴

The 2019 BBC Newsnight Interview

On November 16, 2019, Andrew recorded an interview at Buckingham Palace with Emily Maitlis for the BBC program Newsnight, broadcast on November 16 and running about 58 minutes, addressing his relationship with Epstein and Giuffre's allegations. Andrew said he could not have been with Giuffre on the night of March 10, 2001, that she described because he had been at home and had taken his daughter Princess Beatrice to a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking for a children's party, an outing he said he remembered because going to a Pizza Express in Woking was "an unusual thing for me to do."⁴

Andrew also said he had "a peculiar medical condition" that meant he did not sweat at the time, which he attributed to an adrenaline overdose dating to the Falklands War, in response to Giuffre's description of him perspiring at the Tramp nightclub. He described his stay at Epstein's home after the 2008 conviction as a decision he made because it was "convenient," a characterization widely criticized, and said he did not regret the friendship overall because of the contacts it had brought, before later expressing regret in subsequent statements. He said he had "no recollection" of meeting Giuffre.⁴

The interview was widely characterized as damaging to Andrew. Within days, on November 20, 2019, he announced he was stepping back from public royal duties "for the foreseeable future," saying his association with Epstein had become "a major disruption to my family's work." He said he continued to "unequivocally regret" the association, denied Giuffre's allegations, and said he was willing to assist any appropriate law enforcement agency if required. A Netflix dramatization, Scoop, and other accounts later reconstructed the negotiation and conduct of the interview.⁴¹

The 2021 Lawsuit and 2022 Settlement

On August 9, 2021, Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Andrew in the Southern District of New York, alleging he had sexually abused her on three occasions when she was 17, including at Maxwell's London home, at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, and on Little St. James. The suit was brought under New York's Child Victims Act, which had temporarily revived expired civil claims. Andrew strenuously denied the allegations and sought dismissal.⁵²

Andrew's lawyers argued that a 2009 settlement Giuffre had signed with Epstein, under which Epstein paid her 500,000 dollars and she released a category of potential defendants, also barred her claim against Andrew. After the 2009 agreement was unsealed on January 3, 2022, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on January 12, 2022, that the release language was ambiguous and did not clearly cover Andrew, and he declined to dismiss the case, allowing it to proceed toward discovery. The 2009 document did not name Andrew or otherwise identify the second parties it released.¹⁰

The day after Kaplan's ruling, on January 13, 2022, Buckingham Palace announced with the Queen's "approval and agreement" that Andrew's military affiliations and royal patronages, including his role as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, were being returned to the Queen and that Andrew would no longer use the style His Royal Highness in any official capacity, defending the case thereafter as a private citizen.⁹ On February 15, 2022, the parties filed notice of a settlement before Kaplan. The filing stated that Andrew intended to make "a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights," that "Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character," and that he "accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks." The settlement contained no admission of liability, and the filing stated that the sum was not being disclosed. Press reporting estimated the value in the range of 12 million pounds, with other reporting citing figures around 7.5 million pounds; the actual amount was not made public, and the suit was dismissed in March 2022.²⁵

Removal of Titles

On October 17, 2025, Andrew announced he would no longer use his title of Duke of York or the other honors conferred on him, while continuing to deny the allegations against him. The announcement came amid renewed attention following Giuffre's death and the imminent publication of her posthumous memoir Nobody's Girl, and after reporting on emails and on the terms of his occupation of Royal Lodge.⁶

On October 30, 2025, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had that day "initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew." A Warrant under the King's Royal Sign Manual dated October 30, 2025, directed the Secretary of State to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the Roll of the Peerage with immediate effect. Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated November 3, 2025, declared that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor would no longer be entitled to hold the style "Royal Highness" or the titular dignity of "Prince." The actions were effected through the royal prerogative and published in the London Gazette by the Crown Office, rather than through Parliament.⁷⁸

The House of Commons Library noted that removal from the Roll of the Peerage and the withdrawal of the style and dignity by Letters Patent are distinct from abolishing the Dukedom of York itself, which is a hereditary peerage that can be removed only by an Act of Parliament. Andrew's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, retained their princess styles, conferred under a separate 1917 Letters Patent. The Palace announced Andrew would leave Royal Lodge, his 30-room residence in Windsor Great Park held under a long lease, and relocate to privately funded accommodation on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. He continued to deny the allegations throughout.⁸⁷