King Charles Moves to Strip Andrew of Last Honorary Naval Rank Amid Epstein Fallout

King Charles seeks to remove Prince Andrew's final military honour

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, appears poised to lose the last honorary military title he still holds as Buckingham Palace continues to distance the royal household from his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News that "we've seen Andrew surrender the military positions that he's had and we're looking now at the one remaining position he has, which is the honorary vice admiral position, and we've got a process underway for that to be removed." In a separate interview with the BBC, Healey added that "it's a move the king has indicated we should take."

Mountbatten Windsor, the third child of the late Queen Elizabeth II, spent decades carrying out public duties as a working royal. Revelations about his historical links to Epstein led to sustained public criticism, most notably after his widely criticised 2019 BBC Newsnight interview.

In 2016 he was named in a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged Epstein paid her to have sex with the then-prince on multiple occasions. Andrew has denied the allegations, but he settled the case out of court in 2022 for an undisclosed sum. The settlement did not end scrutiny of his past associations or the pressure on the royal family.

Until recently, the royal household had allowed him to step back from public duties and to give up several titles and privileges. Last week, King Charles announced that his brother would be stripped of the title of prince and asked to vacate the taxpayer-funded 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor.

One of the few honours Andrew still retains is the honorary rank of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, a post awarded on his 55th birthday in 2015. Defence Secretary Healey has confirmed that a formal process is under way to remove that appointment, though no timetable has been given.

Andrew served for 22 years in the Royal Navy, including as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War and as commander of the mine countermeasures vessel HMS Cottesmore.

Asked about the controversy, former President Donald Trump told CBS News' "60 Minutes" it was "a terrible thing that's happened" to the royal family and described the situation as "tragic."

CBS News has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment on the pending removal of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's Royal Naval honorary rank.