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Featured Image Credit: Rob Kim/Getty Images for Global Citizen
Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Princess Beatrice, Jeffrey Epstein, Crime
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Prince Andrew, Royal Family, UK News, Princess Beatrice, Jeffrey Epstein, Crime
After Prince Andrew gave up his final royal honours last week over his links with Jeffrey Epstein, questions have been raised regarding Sarah Ferguson's official titles.
Upon marrying into the monarchy in 1986, the mother-of-two became the Duchess of York, with the 'Duke' counterpart traditionally being passed down to the monarch's - then, Queen Elizabeth II - second son.
Six years later, the couple separated, and by 1996, she and Andrew had officially divorced, with Sarah receiving the courtesy royal divorcee title 'Sarah, Duchess of York.'
Despite this, however, the years that followed saw the Yorks continue to reside together at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where they co-parented their two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
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Over the past few years, Prince Andrew, 65, has faced several scandals following revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prince told BBC Newsnight that he'd first met Epstein through 'his girlfriend back in 1999', adding that he later saw him 'infrequently', which he said was 'probably no more than only once or twice a year'.
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In 2000, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attended a joint celebration to mark the birthdays of Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret.
In 2008, Epstein was convicted of the sexual abuse of a Florida minor and was sentenced to time in prison. Following his release in 2010, Andrew was photographed with Epstein in Central Park in New York.
In 2019, Epstein was arrested again on federal sex trafficking charges, facing life in prison before standing trial. Around the same time, Virginia Giuffre alleged that, having first been trafficked by Epstein, Prince Andrew sexually abused her on three occasions as a minor - an allegation which he has continuously denied.
After Epstein died in jail the same year, a statement from Prince Andrew via the palace said that he was 'appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes', adding: “At no stage during the limited time I spent with him (Epstein) did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”
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During his BBC Newsnight interview, he also claimed that he had 'no recollection' of ever meeting Giuffre and that he couldn't have had sex with her because he was in a Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter at the time.
Later on, it was announced that he was stepping back from his public duties 'for the foreseeable future' as his association with Epstein had become a 'major distraction' to the royal family's work, adding that he 'deeply sympathised' with Epstein's victims and he was 'willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required'.
In 2022, Prince Andrew and Giuffre reached an out-of-court settlement of an undisclosed sum in the US to avoid a trial after she pursued legal action against him in the form of a civil case in 2021.
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The royal was also stripped of his military titles, royal patronages, and 'His Royal Highness' title the same year.
Amidst all this, Sarah told ITV's Good Morning Britain that the focus 'needs to come off' her ex-husband so he could 'rebuild' his life after the accusations.
She said: "With Prince Andrew, he’s such a good man. He’s a kind, good man. And I think the spotlight needs to come off him and let him get on with his life to rebuild."
In April of this year, Giuffre took her own life at her home in Australia.
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On Friday (17 October), Prince Andrew's press team released a statement, renouncing what's left of his royal titles as he continues to 'vigorously deny the accusations against me'.
Claiming he'd done so to not distract 'from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family', his statement said: "I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life. With His Majesty's agreement, we feel I must now go a step further.
"I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me."
Despite the father-of-two still being referred to as 'Prince' - despite calls to have this moniker removed - he'll no longer go by the 'Duke of York'.
The decision was said to have been made following pressure from King Charles III in light of new claims about his and Epstein's relationship, as Giuffre's posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, is set to be released tomorrow (21 October).
According to the BBC, after Andrew was stripped of his remaining royal titles, Sarah also lost hers.
The publication reports that even after her divorce from Andrew three decades ago, she kept the title, Sarah, Duchess of York; however, now she will refer back to her maiden name of Ferguson.
According to royal commentator Richard Palmer, Sarah will see the latest ruling as quite a blow.
He told the news outlet this week: "She will have lost a bit of cachet over this. She certainly does use the title – even her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess."
Sarah herself also faced her own scandal after a supposed email from the mother-of-two to Epstein in 2011 was published, where she reportedly described him as a 'supreme friend'.
Another email, sent around the same time, also began by describing Epstein as 'my dear, dear friend'.
The message was sent just months after Sarah branded her involvement with the sex offender a 'gigantic error of judgment'.
A spokesperson for Sarah said that the email was sent as a counter to a defamation threat by Epstein, as they continued to say that she 'spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims'.
"Like many people, she was taken in by his lies. As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia," they continued.
"She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.
The couple's daughters have been granted permission to retain their 'Princess' titles - given that the scandal surrounds their parents - having been handed them at birth.
The line of succession will also not be affected, as their father remains eighth in line for the throne, with his daughters following as ninth and twelfth, respectively.
Though Andrew will likely not be joining King Charles and his fellow royals for Christmas at Sandringham this year, it's possible that Beatrice and Eugenie might.
Royal commentator Victoria Murphy explained of the pair: "As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there's an appreciation of the fact that this scandal doesn't involve them, and it's not fair for it to impact them directly in the independent lives they are carving out for themselves."