'The most disgraced royal in modern British history': The unanswered questions that remain despite Andrew being stripped of his prince title

ANALYSIS -- The most disgraced royal in modern British history.

That is Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's legacy.

His fall from grace that began nearly 15 years ago culminated in the formal stripping of his 'prince' title on Friday, along with confirmation he would vacate his 30-bedroom mansion, the Royal Lodge in Windsor, for a property on the King's private Sandringham estate.

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Though he has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the allegations levelled against him, there had been serious lapses of judgement and the optics for the royal family were disastrous.

King Charles needed to act now before the monarchy suffered further reputational damage, even if formally stripping his younger brother of his prince title came with an element of personal pain.

But 'The Firm' and the preservation of the monarchy comes above all else.

READ MORE: Inside Sandringham, the King's private estate where Andrew will in exile

READ MORE: What the future looks like for Andrew and Fergie's two daughters

READ MORE: 'Prince Andrew his done – Virginia Giuffre's memoir has sealed his fate'

For Andrew, there could be no bigger embarrassment than losing his prince title and being booted from the Royal Lodge.

He had probably thought the sorry saga had been dealt with once and for all by relinquishing the use of his titles, including that of Duke of York, on October 17.

But more needed to be done as public outrage grew and MPs began putting pressure on the British Prime Minister to remove formally Andrew's titles through an Act of Parliament, bypassing the King.

Behind the scenes moves were underway to strip Andrew of his titles and support was needed from the rest of the royal family.

There was a feeling something big was coming, but it was largely expected to be an announcement Andrew was to leave the Royal Lodge and nothing more, for now at least.

But the King was decisive in his actions and Andrew lost his prince title, effective immediately.

The so-called Andrew problem has been one of his own making and all that remains for him is his place as number eight in the line of succession.

The sense of entitlement Andrew had, and the enormous amount of privilege afforded to him, were two issues that greatly angered the public.

A new poll by YouGov in the UK on Thursday revealed Andrew has the worst ever popularity ratings for a royal, with 91 per cent holding a negative view of him.

And it will take some time for that feeling of outrage to subside.

While the palace is hopeful that the King's actions will satisfy the public's need for action against Andrew, there remains a number of unanswered questions that will continue to loom over the palace in the weeks to come.

Is there more scandal yet to emerge?

There appears to be a fear within royal circles of more damaging headlines to come.

In July, the publication of Andrew Lownie's book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York – which charted the various ill-fated moves of both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – lead to a new slew of stories about the former prince and his ties to Epstein.

"The sheer amount of potentially compromising material about Andrew and his ill-chosen friends that was out in the wider world, waiting to be uncovered, had spread panic among the King's advisers," The Telegraph UK's Associate Editor Gordon Rayner said on Friday.

"They feared more details about his dealings with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein coming to light in the US, not to mention stories about his dealings with alleged Chinese spies."

The King, it seems, wanted to get ahead of the story and not appear to be reactive.

Why has it taken so long for this to happen?

Since Andrew relinquished the use of his titles two weeks ago, Buckingham Palace has been faced with questions of why it took so long to act.

And even now that he has been formally stripped of his prince title, there will remain questions about why the Andrew problem was not dealt with earlier.

The optics of having a non-working royal living rent free in the Royal Lodge – a heritage listed 30-bedroom mansion just minutes from Windsor Castle – was in very bad taste, let alone a royal who had been friends with a convicted sex offender and who had faced his own accusations of abuse.

The scandals surrounding Andrew are not new and there have been many over the years: from his questionable business dealings, his unexplained source of income, his links with Epstein and most recently his connections to alleged Chinese spies.

But it was the emergence of an email sent from Andrew to Epstein, which was proof of their continued contact, that sparked a shift in attitude from the palace and the King. More needed to be done. And it was.

What else has he lied to the public about?

That email sent by Andrew to Epstein containing the promise that they would "play some more soon" ultimately sealed his fate.

The email, sent in February 2011 but only recently confirmed to have been written by Andrew, revealed the former prince had lied to the British public by claiming he had cut off all contact with Epstein in December the year before.

In 2019 Andrew had told the BBC during his ill-fated Newsnight interview that meeting Epstein at his New York house had been a "wrong decision". They had been photographed together walking through Central Park.

Journalist Emily Maitlis, who grilled Andrew during that now-infamous chat, said the emergence of that email had made "a mockery of Andrew's own words".

"Moreover, it makes you rethink everything else he said," she wrote in a recent piece for The Times.

"It mocks any idea of honour."

Giuffre alleged she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions, including once in London on the night of March 10 2001 after visiting Tramp nightclub.

In that Newsnight interview, Andrew denied being there and said he was at Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter Princess Beatrice.

However, his alibi has never been proven or disproven.

Was there an abuse of power?

Along with the email, the publication of Giuffre's memoir earlier this month had a major role to play in Andrew's downfall.

While many of the claims in the book are not new, they make for disturbing reading as they offer a wider picture of the abuse suffered by Giuffre at the hands of some of the world's richest and most powerful people.

Giuffre was Epstein's most high-profile victim and she accused Andrew of sexually abusing her on three occasions, including when she was 17 – accusations he has always strenuously denied.

Speaking to the BBC in the aftermath of the removal of Andrew's prince title, Lowie said: "I don't think it's the end of it, I think there are many more disclosures to come, but at least they're taking some decisive action.

"So, I don't think it's all over for him."

Last week, it emerged the Metropolitan Police was now looking into claims Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded close protection officer to uncover information about Giuffre.

He had allegedly passed on her date of birth and US social security number to his bodyguard to find potential dirt on his accuser.

The possible abuse of power could lead to Andrew being questioned by police.

Lownie says it could even go further.

"I've been saying for some time they're [the royal family] going to throw Andrew under the bus to save themselves and this is the first indication of that."

He told TalkTV: "'I do think the authorities will want to pursue some of these investigations. They will bring charges. I think if they do so there is a very good chance that both he and Sarah Ferguson may well go to prison."

Where has Andrew's money come from?

Andrew is now dependant on his brother King Charles for both his home and his finances. The palace has made it clear that the King has a duty of care towards Andrew's welfare.

To ensure he would not be a burden on the taxpayer, he will live on the King's private Sandringham estate.

Frogmore Cottage had been touted as a potential home for Andrew but that property has the potential to bring in an income for the taxpayer being part of the Crown Estate.

Last week it was revealed he had not paid any rent on the Royal Lodge in more than 20 years, further adding to the anger that he was able to live in the home.

Under the terms of the lease, he was allowed to stay in the home if he paid for its upkeep, but if he could not prove that he had a regular income, that deal would be redundant.

Mystery has surrounded where Andrew's money has come from and last year he was cut off financially by the King.

His only source of known income is his $40k a year naval pension.

There also continue to be questions around where he got the money to pay the out-of-court settlement to Giuffre.

In her book, she claimed the pay out was $12m. At the time of the settlement in 2022, it was suggested the late Queen Elizabeth II had provided the money but that was never confirmed or denied by Buckingham Palace.

What will he and Ferguson do now and where will she live?

From the outside, Andrew's life moving forward will not change dramatically to how he has been living since stepping back from public duties in 2019.

He is no longer welcome at the royal family's private, but public-facing, gatherings including Christmas at Sandringham and Easter at Windsor.

Andrew and Fergie will also likely be banned from Royal Ascot – the former Duchess of York was at the prestigious racing carnival this year and she was also given a seat in the Royal Box at Wimbledon for the first time in nearly 30 years.

It's believed Andrew wanted to stay in Windsor to be close to his family but he's been moved to Norfolk, which is further away from the official seat of royal life.

Ferguson has lived with her ex-husband at the Royal Lodge for many years, despite their divorce in 1996.

It's not known where she will live but she is said to be making her own arrangements.

The 'Andrew scandal'... a brief timeline

The Andrew problem, as it has become known, is not a new headache for the King and his family – it has been dragging on for close to 15 years.

Andrew, who until recently was known as Duke of York, has long been one of the royal family's more controversial figures but it was his relationship with convicted convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that has been his undoing.

In February, 2011, Andrew was photographed walking through Central Park in New York with Epstein prompting the tabloid headline 'Prince Andy & The Paedo'.

Days later, the now-infamous photo showing Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre with Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein's ex-girlfriend – in the background was published in a newspaper.

Soon after, Andrew was stripped of his role as the UK's trade envoy as his ties with Epstein came under intense scrutiny.

In April, 2015, Andrew was first publicly accused of sexual abuse by Giuffre who alleged that she had been forced to have sex with the prince when she was a minor.

Andrew denied ever meeting Giuffre in that disastrous Newsnight interview with the BBC in November, 2019, and stepped back from all public royal duties days later. The interview was a PR disaster for the royal family and brought renewed focus on Andrew's friendship with Epstein.

In 2021, Giuffre launched a civil case against Andrew in the United States.

He was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in January 2022, including the use of his HRH honorific.

In February of that year, Andrew settled the sexual assault case filed against him by Giuffre for an undisclosed sum, believed to be worth £9m. The settlement stopped him from having to give evidence at trial.

Andrew has always strenuously denied all allegations against him and the settlement included no admission of wrongdoing.

The story has continued to drag on and in July this year, a book by Andrew Lowie called Entitled brought renewed focus on Andrew's ties with Epstein, including his ex-wife's dealings with the disgraced financier, ultimately leading to their latest downfall.

Then came confirmation Andrew had kept in touch with Epstein longer than he had previously said.

The final nail in the coffin was the publication of Giuffre's memoir, Nobody's Girl, which she described Andrew as "friendly enough, but entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright."

It's a massive fall from grace for Andrew – once known as Queen Elizabeth II's favourite.

Who could forget the image of him offering a steady arm to his mother as she walked into Westminster Abbey to attend a memorial for her late husband Prince Philip, weeks after he settled the civil case with Giuffre.

That arrogance and that level of defiance from Andrew is something we'll never see again as he begins his new life as a 'mister' – an ordinary citizen and no longer a prince.

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