The downfall of Andrew, formerly known as prince and born into a life of royal privilege as the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was complete today, when his brother King Charles III moved to strip him of all his titles.
The family of his alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, hailed the king鈥檚 decision as a victory, saying 鈥渁n ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage鈥.
It is an ignominious fate for Andrew, who had seemingly revelled in his links to convicted US sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
Here鈥檚 what we know so far about his fall:
Friendship with Epstein
Andrew reportedly first met Epstein in 1999 through the late multimillionaire鈥檚 girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2008, Epstein was convicted in the United States of procuring a minor for prostitution and handed an 18-month jail sentence.
Despite this, the pair were photographed in 2010 walking through Central Park in New York together.
Andrew claimed this was the end of their friendship.
But an email to Epstein in February 2011 鈥渇rom a member of the British royal family鈥 believed to be Andrew said: 鈥淜eep in close touch and we鈥檒l play some more soon !!!!鈥, according to UK court documents revealed earlier this year.
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Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.
Andrew was stripped of all his royal patronages and military titles in January following a civil lawsuit brought by one of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking victims, Virginia Giuffre. Photo / Supplied
Legal settlement
In August 2021 Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew, alleging he sexually assaulted her three times, including twice when she was 17.
In her memoir Nobody鈥檚 Girl published earlier this month, Giuffre said she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three separate occasions, having been trafficked by Epstein.
On the first occasion in March 2001, the then 41-year-old Andrew had sex with her at Maxwell鈥檚 mews house in London.
Andrew was asked to guess her age. When he correctly suggested she was 17, he explained his accuracy by saying that 鈥渕y daughters are just a little younger than you鈥, Giuffre recalled in her memoir.
The second encounter was the following month at Epstein鈥檚 鈥済arish鈥 townhouse in New York.
The last time was on Epstein鈥檚 private island as part of what she described as an 鈥渙rgy鈥 with Andrew, Epstein and around eight other girls who 鈥渁ll appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn鈥檛 really speak English鈥.
A letter filed to a US court in February 2022 jointly by Giuffre and Andrew鈥檚 lawyers revealed they had reached an out-of-court settlement to end her civil case against him.
Andrew 鈥 who made no admission of liability 鈥 agreed to pay her an undisclosed sum. The exact amount has not been revealed, but was reportedly more than 拢9 million ($20.6m).
King Charles has stripped Andrew of all titles. Photo / Getty Images
鈥楴o recollection鈥
Andrew stood down as a UK trade envoy in 2011 amid controversy over his ties with Epstein.
In 2019 after a disastrous TV interview, he withdrew from public duties and gave up his HRH (His Royal Highness) title after denying in the interview that he had sex with Giuffre.
He added that he had no recollection 鈥渁t all鈥 of ever meeting her.
Queen Elizabeth II in January 2022 stripped him of his military titles and royal patronages after he lost his attempt to quash the civil suit filed by Giuffre in 2021.
On October 17, Andrew agreed to give up his Duke of York title under pressure from Charles, saying he would not use it.
His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who borrowed money from Epstein, will also no longer be known as the Duchess of York.
Today amid growing public outcry, King Charles III moved to , on the Windsor estate, where he had lived for two decades paying only a peppercorn rent.
Giuffre took her own life in April, at the age of 41, in Australia where she lived with her husband and three children.
鈥 Agence France-Presse
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