King Charles may have protected the royal family by stripping his brother of his title, but the former duke and his wife Sarah Ferguson still face legal risks.
This week’s headlines were shocking, even compared to historic royal scandals such as King Edward’s abdication, Princess Diana and Charles’ divorce, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from the UK. Prince Andrew was formally stripped of his royal titles and evicted from his home at Royal Lodge on the orders of his brother King Charles III. The announcement followed a deafening chorus about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, sex trafficking and sexual abuse of young women, including the late Virginia Giuffre.
Until King Charles took that step, “this was the most dangerous moment in 100 years of royal history,” said Andrew Lowney, author of several books on the royal family. Title: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told USA TODAY. “Here we had a corrupt royal family, supported by the institution itself, and the people were completely outraged.” The former Duke of York’s story is far from over, and the latest developments only highlight new unanswered questions about the intertwined fates of Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, King Charles, and the monarchy itself. USA TODAY looks at some of the most pressing issues with the help of royal officials and experts.
Will Andrew be investigated by the authorities??
“That’s true. I think the public mood is that they want law enforcement to take a good look at him because there have been fabrications in the past,” Rowney predicted.
“There’s also an attempt to basically influence government officials by trying to smear Virginia Giuffre,” he says. Andrew asked his Metropolitan Police bodyguard to investigate Virginia Giuffre shortly before the charges against her were made public in 2021, according to emails obtained by Britain’s Daily Mail and published in early October.
The newspaper reported that Andrew gave British police officer Giuffre’s date of birth and US social security number, suggesting she had a criminal record. Andrew has not publicly responded to the accusations. The Metropolitan Police said it was looking into the allegations. Dai Davies, a former royal protection director and current royal commentator, said if the Mail’s report turns out to be accurate, it would mean Andrew had committed a criminal offence. “Quite apart from the sex trafficking allegations, Mr. Andrew could be charged with misconduct in office, which carries a life sentence,” Lowney said.
Will US authorities, Congress or the FBI, be able to question him?
“The FBI has wanted to talk to him for a long time, but as the victims’ lawyers have actually pointed out, he has refused to cooperate. They may renew their resolve to talk to him. He may fight,” Lowney said. Lowney believes there is “sufficient evidence of violations of law” to warrant a U.S. investigation, but it remains to be seen whether the Justice Department under President Donald Trump will pursue the case.
Why did Charles III make this decision now?
“He absolutely had to do that for the monarchy to be a symbol of national unity and actually work,” says royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. Books published after Giuffre’s death nobody’s girl “The royal family advertises itself as a provider of soft power, and they’ve done a great job of that.[But]when you go to the Vatican and pray with the Pope, you go back 15 years and you’re in the shadow of an ever-worsening scandal,” he said, adding that Prince Charles had no other choice.
Lowney also believes that stripping Andrew of the title may have stopped the bleeding — for now. “They were worried about what else was going to come out,” Rowney added. “They know that some of the victims are more courageous than ever to speak out. It was better to let go at this stage.” In short, “they could basically wash their hands of him and he would be left to sink or swim.” Mr Davies said that although there was no new concrete information about the allegations against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that were now officially known, he strongly suspected that the Crown believed further damaging revelations could be “coming”.
What was the relationship between King Charles and Prince Andrew?
“I don’t think they had much in common because Charles was extremely intelligent and incredibly athletic when it came to sports,” Fitzwilliams says. Andrew, 65, is considered “very much a ‘cow’ type,” he says. British slang for someone who is slow, stupid, or cow-like. “He’s the one who tells stupid jokes and stuff, and Charles won’t like it… They’re totally different.”
Did Prince William have any input into his father’s decision?
Although the palace officially said the decision was Prince Charles’s alone, Mr Fitzwilliam said he was “absolutely convinced” that heir apparent Prince William weighed in after seeing public support for the monarchy waning in the UK and decided that the monarchy was “under threat” from the growing scandals.
Will Andrew be able to go to jail?
“There is a range of charges that could be brought against him if there is enough evidence,” Lowney said. “If the authorities investigate him properly, there is a good chance he will be prosecuted and there is a good chance he will be convicted and sent to prison.”
Mr Lowney said he expected it was “very likely” that Mr Andrew would go to prison, although it is extremely rare for members of the British royal family to be charged with or convicted of criminal offences. Princess Anne, the king and Andrew’s sister, became the first member of the British royal family to be convicted of a criminal offense after one of her dogs, a three-year-old English bull terrier, Dottie, bit two children at Windsor Great Park in 2002. (She pleaded guilty and paid a fine.)
What is Sarah Ferguson’s involvement and future activities?
The former Duchess of York and her ex-husband remained close and even lived together, but she will no longer receive royal support. “Her daughters may have to help support her because she has lost all her patrons,” Ms Fitzwilliams said. She “ran a very well-organized PR campaign” to regain public favor, but her rehabilitation efforts were “completely crushed. She will never recover from this.”
Lowney agreed, citing recently unearthed emails suggesting a close relationship between Ferguson and Epstein. “Four years after publicly claiming they had lost contact, she was with Epstein in one of his apartments,” he says. “She was in Palm Beach and she was always with him in New York. This relationship has been ignored with the focus on Jeffrey and Andrew, so she kind of slipped under the radar.”
The former duchess could face legal problems of her own, he added. “I think she’s certainly a key witness to what was going on. She must have seen what was going on. I think she’s very much in the frame, which is another reason they cast her adrift.”
Will Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice continue to carry out their royal duties?
Although the palace has allowed Eugenie and Beatrice to retain their titles, Fitzwilliams said it would be “very difficult” for either to lead high-profile royal events in the wake of their father’s disgrace and legal crisis. “Of course they are not to be blamed. They seem to have adapted well. As far as I know, they have careers, they have happy families, they want to do charity work. They shouldn’t stop doing that charity work.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t think there are “charitable organizations lining up” to work with them in the wake of the scandal. “I hope people look at this in the most rational way possible.”
Why is Andrew still on the list of successors?
Yes, but not in a practical way. “In reality, that doesn’t matter, because only working royals can inherit[the throne],” Fitzwilliams says. Andrew has not worked as a member of the royal family’s staff since 2019. Mr Fitzwilliams said removing Mr Andrew from public life would require him to “spend more time in Parliament on professional matters”.
Will Andrew appear at a public event again?
Andrew will live in a house on the royal grounds of Sandringham, but it is reported that he will not be attending the family’s Christmas celebrations. “Easter is no different,” Fitzwilliams said. “The only thing you can’t keep him out of is a funeral. I think you’ll see him slip into the back door and sneak out.”
Will the British monarchy be able to survive this situation?
Charles’ decision “has put a lot of the public anger to rest, although they’re not out of the woods yet,” Lowney surmises. “They’re showing they care about the victims. But things could still go wrong. The mood is that Andrew will have to pay some kind of fine for this. And if that involves sending him to prison, that’s going to be very popular. The sense that the elites aren’t getting away with it, that they’re responsible will send a very strong message that people will be very happy with.”
