Majority of Brits support stripping Prince Andrew of his remaining royal titles – amid speculation future King William will look to cut him out

Two thirds of Britons support stripping Prince Andrew of his remaining royal titles, new research has shown.

According to YouGov polling, 67 per cent of the population would back a move by the Royal Family to remove any remaining vestiges of his former position.

The most well known title held by the late Queen’s second son is the Duke of York, a title given to him on his wedding day to Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

According to tradition, however, he was also given the titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland, although they are rarely used.

All three regions have seen local campaigns demanding the titles be disassociated from the prince, who remains overshadowed by a web of private and public scandals including his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew’s scandalous and faux pas-ridden life – from the scores of alleged sexual conquests to his boorish and vulgar character – has been outlined in extracts from a new book serialised in the Mail.

Andrew Lownie’s book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York – also recounts the Duke’s seeming infidelity and suggestions he abused his Foreign Office role to boost his own wealth on taxpayer-funded trips. 

The excruciating revelations have prompted fresh questions over whether the Duke should retain his titles – but his brother, King Charles III, is unlikely to deviate from his mother’s famous stance of ‘never complain, never explain’.

King Charles is thought to have sought to address the ‘Andrew question’ early in his reign – but his cancer diagnosis saw his priorities change (pictured together in 2012)

Charles is thought to have sought to address the ‘Andrew question’ early in his reign – but his cancer diagnosis saw his priorities change. 

As well as his connections with the Epstein, the Duke was forced to deny ever sharing information with an alleged Chinese spy who served as a close advisor on his business ventures.

His relationship with Yang Tengbo caught the attention of British intelligence services, who had to contact the Duke to warn him off amid fears Mr Tengbo was seeking to use his royal connection to his advantage.

The King has withdrawn his brother’s allowance even while appearing to surrender in the war over the Royal Lodge residence. 

Andrew must now keep the 30-room estate in Windsor Great Park maintained at his own expense – which he appears to be capable of despite a bill thought to run into the millions.

Despite his troublesome reputation, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne and a Counsellor of State who can theoretically deputise for the King should he become incapacitated, although in reality this is unlikely to ever happen as there are other working royals who also occupy the position.

The shamed royal, who retains his HRH status but is unable to use it publicly, also remains a member of the Order of the Garter, the nation’s most ancient and prestigious order of chivalry.

He also holds various Royal Victorian Orders, given to him by the late Queen, as well as other foreign and Commonwealth titles, as well as being an honorary Vice Admiral.

Andrew has been overshadowed by private and public scandals including his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein which has damanged public opinion (Andrew pictured with Virginia Giuffre, then Roberts, and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell)

Prince Andrew still retains his Royal Order of the Garter title – but this could be revoked by the King if the circumstances were deemed appropriate (pictured in 2023)

Andrew has disappeared from the public eye, having withdrawn from royal duties – making any future action by William an effective confirmation of his informal severance (pictured 2011)

The Duke has seen largely excused himself from all but the most occasional of public outings – joining the family on their Christmas walk at Sandringham and attending St George’s Chapel for the Easter Sunday service. 

Andrew’s Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest order of chivalry could also be stripped away after he was granted it by Elizabeth II in 2006. It is removed from those guilty of charges such as heresy or treason.

The Duke of York has not taken part in the annual public Garter Day parade since 2019, following his fall from grace.

His Dukedom could be struck off by way of Parliament. A Private Members’ Bill sponsored by MP Rachael Maskell in 2022 sought to grant the Monarch ‘powers to remove titles’.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ms Maskell is the MP for York Central. Nine in 10 local people wanted to see Andrew stripped of his title in 2022, loathing his ongoing connection with the city. He has already been stripped of the Freedom of York.

His princedom and HRH title – the latter already informally withdrawn with Andrew’s agreement – could be revoked by way of Letters Patent, documents signed by the monarch that grant rights and titles (and can equally take them away).

The new polling says that only 13 per cent of those asked would object to him being stripped of his remaining royal titles. A further 21 per cent said they didn’t know.

The 67 per cent who said they would back any move is spread fairly evenly across gender, ages groups and even political affiliation.

A sample 2294 adults across Great Britain were quizzed between August 6 and 7 this year, following the Daily Mail’s devastating serialisation of the explosive new biography of the Duke and his wife, Sarah, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, which made a series of damaging claims about his private and public activities.

A separate YouGov survey found that Andrew continues to languish at the bottom of the royal favourability tables, with his five per cent of Britons having a positive view of him.