I’m sure the fallout will continue throughout this week, but I wanted to do some general upkeep on how things stand with Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and their daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. I believe – and there’s a lot of evidence to back me up – that Andrew agreed to relinquish his royal titles as part of a compromise with King Charles. A compromise which included: many royal perks; the Yorks stay in Royal Lodge; and Beatrice and Eugenie’s titles and royal styles are unchanged. Sarah also had to give up her “Duchess of York” title, but she barely used it anymore so it’s not a huge loss. On Monday, the British papers made a big deal about how the Windsors’ royal website was finally changed to reflect Andrew’s now-relinquished York title.
Prince Andrew has had his Duke of York title scrubbed out by Buckingham Palace and Sarah Ferguson has changed her social media handle, the Daily Mail can reveal today. The Royal Family’s official website was updated to reflect the loss of his dukedom and other honours over the Epstein sex scandal.
It came after the King threatened to have his brother officially stripped of his titles unless he saw sense and gave them up himself. The decision was backed by Prince William.
Today all references to the Duke of York have been axed from royal.uk and he is now referred to as Prince Andrew throughout.
Meanwhile Sarah Ferguson no longer goes by the handle ‘SarahTheDuchess’ on her X account and is now ‘sarahMFergie15’.
Today, the royal.uk website reads: ‘On 13 January 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that, with Queen Elizabeth II’s approval and agreement, Prince Andrew’s military affiliations and Royal patronages would be returned to Her late Majesty, and The Prince would not return to public duties. Prior to stepping back from public life, Prince Andrew undertook a wide range of public work, with a strong economic and business focus’.
Previously it said Duke of York.
I was curious to see if this was the most basic and superficial change ever, and I was right, it totally is. They didn’t bother changing Andrew’s title on the line of succession listed on royal.gov.uk – he’s still listed as the Duke of York, and I got a screenshot. Besides which, this is not an official document – changing someone on the royal website does not have the effect of law!! I still remember when the palace webmasters played those stupid games over adding Princess Lili to the line of succession as well.
What else? Beatrice was seen driving over to Royal Lodge on Monday. The gossip for the past few years has been that the princesses don’t really spend much time with their father, but they’re both really close to their mother. I have no idea if that’s how it actually is, but I wonder if it’s a good idea for Bea to be seen visiting her parents right now. Meanwhile, the princesses reportedly skipped the British Museum’s Pink Ball on Saturday because of their father’s disgrace.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Fergie’s social media, Eugenie’s social media. Screenshot courtesy of royal.gov.uk.
