Britain’s disgraced Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, brother of King Charles III, may be given a new title weeks after he was stripped of his princely title and evicted from his royal residence over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the report, the title could be granted in accordance with the wishes of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Before he was stripped, the former prince’s official name was Andrew Mountbatten Windsor — without the hyphen in the double-barreled surname.
The UK’s Mirror, citing sources, said the palace is now exploring the possibility of introducing a hyphen in line with precedent to change Andrew’s name again from Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, following a Privy Council declaration in 1960.
According to The Guardian, Andrew’s surname was missing a hyphen when his new name was announced on 30 October, and when asked about the absence of a hyphen at the time, a palace spokesman said: “The agreed name was Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
Mountbatten-Windsor will indeed use a punctuation mark between her two surnames, the report said, citing royal sources.
Another report in the Mirror said that upon returning to Windsor Castle, for the first time since losing his title, Prince Andrew found the usual compliments offered at every turn (and woe betide anyone who forgot) gone.
Some even liked to call him Mr Mountbatten Windsor, instead of Your Royal Highness, the Mirror reported.
A posthumous memoir written by Virginia Giuffre, the lead accuser of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has reignited British anger over Andrew’s ties to Epstein.
On October 30, the king announced that he was stripping his brother of his titles and evicting him from his royal residence because of his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last week, US lawmakers wrote to Andrew asking him to participate in an interview about his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The well-documented allegations against you, along with your longtime friendship with Mr. Epstein, indicate that you may have knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation,” the letter, signed by sixteen Democratic members of Congress, reads.
