London, Oct 30 (EFE).- British King Charles III began a formal process this Thursday to strip his brother Andrew of the title of prince and other honors and distinctions, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement, following the controversy over his past ties to American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
"His Majesty (King Charles III) has today initiated a formal process to remove the title, honors and distinctions of Prince Andrew," the note from the British royal house begins.
Andrew's official designation as the third son of Queen Elizabeth II will now be "Andrew Mountbatten Windsor," Buckingham specified, which for the first time omitted the prince's nomenclature.
According to the statement, Andrew will also have to abandon his current lease at the Royal Lodge mansion, near Windsor Castle (southwest of London), which has until now provided him with "legal protection" to continue residing there. "He has been formally notified that he must renounce the lease and will move to other private accommodation," the British royal house stated.
Similarly, it noted that these sanctions are considered "necessary despite Andrew continuing to deny the accusations against him" for the sexual scandals arising from his relationship with American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Buckingham Palace statement concludes by indicating that the UK monarchs, Charles III and Camilla, seek to "make it clear that their thoughts and their most sincere solidarity have been and will continue to be with the victims and survivors of any form of abuse."
Thursday's announcement marks the monarch's definitive step to completely disassociate Andrew from the British crown, just a few weeks after the latter published a statement in which he decided to voluntarily renounce the use of his royal titles and honors so that his accusations would not be a distraction to the work of the royal family.
Andrew, who was popularly known by the title Duke of York, retained the title of 'prince' because it was something he was born with, as the third son of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
