Khaberni - Britain's King Charles III's younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has officially lost his last royal titles due to the scandal involving his connections with the notorious American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
An official post in "The Gazette" states: "The King has ordered the annulment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated April 23, 2006, and the deletion of his name from the register of this Order," which is the highest order of chivalry in Britain and one of the oldest in the world.
In addition, the British King has "ordered the cancellation and annulment of his brother’s appointment as a Knight of the Royal Victorian Order, dated February 19, 2011, and the deletion of his name from the register of the said Order." As in the previous case, membership in this Order is granted personally by the monarch in recognition of services rendered to the Sovereignty or one of the members of the royal family.
The "Daily Telegraph" reported that this concerns the last two royal titles that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor held. In November of last year, he was stripped of the title "Prince," as well as his right to use the formal address and title "His Royal Highness."
In 2019, the then-Prince Andrew was forced to resign from official duties as a member of the royal family due to the scandal arising from the Epstein case. This occurred after Virginia Giuffre, an American, accused him, claiming he was among several men who forced her to have sex with them when she was 17 years old.
Over the years, the Prince has denied these accusations; however, after Giuffre filed a lawsuit against him in the United States, he opted to settle the dispute out of court, where he paid the woman approximately 12 million pounds sterling (about 15 million dollars), according to media reports. In 2022, by a decision of Elizabeth II, the Prince was stripped of honorary military ranks and patronages of many public organizations.
Epstein was arrested by law enforcement authorities in New York on July 6, 2019. The prosecution claimed that from 2002 to 2005, he arranged visits for dozens of minor girls to his Manhattan home, the youngest being 14 years old. Epstein's circle of friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and former officials not only in the United States, but in many other countries (including former heads of state), major businessmen, and entertainment stars. The criminal prosecution of the financier in the United States was halted after he committed suicide in his cell on August 10, 2019.
