CNN broke into its scheduled programming to deliver breaking news about the Royal Family.
Presenter Max Foster interrupted his coverage to announce that King Charles’s brother, Prince Andrew, would lose his Royal titles and be removed from Buckingham Palace, describing it as a “stunning statement.”
The dramatic decision follows Prince Andrew’s connection to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Claims against the 65-year-old have resurfaced following the October 21 release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir ‘Nobody’s Girl,’ in which she claims that Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager, allegations he has denied.
CNN correspondent Richard Quest commented on the breaking development during the broadcast, saying, “This is absolutely uncharted territory. It’s the contagion, the waves are lapping now at the doors of Buckingham Palace.”
On Thursday, Buckingham Palace issued an official statement from King Charles, confirming that “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” reports the Mirror US.
Although Prince Andrew maintains he never encountered Virginia, who died aged 41 last April, she documented her encounters with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Prince Andrew during her teenage years in her posthumous memoir.
She claimed she was forced into sexual encounters with Prince Andrew on three occasions, including once at age 17 in 2001, after being trafficked by Epstein. He has consistently rejected these claims and maintains they never met, despite a photograph showing him alongside her and Ghislaine.
Following the memoir’s release, demonstrators have demanded accountability from Prince Andrew and the Royal Family regarding his connection to Epstein. Concerns have also emerged about how he allegedly funded Virginia’s multi-million-dollar civil lawsuit settlement in 2022 and maintains his expensive lifestyle despite stepping back from Royal duties in 2019.
The official statement from Buckingham Palace also reads, “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
