As a new chapter begins, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor awakens to life as a commoner for the first time. However, the former duke’s ordeal may not be over, as a police investigation could be looming, according to a royal biographer.

In a stunning announcement yesterday, Buckingham Palace revealed that Andrew, 65, has been stripped of his princely title with immediate effect. Additionally, he will vacate the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The palace explained that these actions were deemed necessary due to the ongoing scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Andrew falsely claimed to have severed ties.

This decision follows the release of incriminating correspondence where the disgraced prince reportedly told Epstein, “we are in this together,” shortly after the notorious photo of Andrew with his alleged former teenage victim, Virginia Giuffre, surfaced.

As Andrew’s association with the disgraced financier continued to tarnish the royal family’s reputation, he finally consented to relinquish his lease on the Windsor residence, which he shared for over twenty years with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, while paying a nominal rent.

In a pointed comment, insiders disclosed that the former Duchess of York, who has also faced scrutiny over her connections to Epstein, will need to make independent arrangements regarding her living situation.

It is understood King Charles III is in the process of sending royal warrants to the Lord Chancellor to remove his brother’s titles and honours, to which Andrew has not objected.

His Majesty’s younger brother will now be banished to a private property on the monarch’s Sandringham Estate in Norlfolk, but no further details have been shared. It is understood Prince William and the Royal Family fully support the King’s decision.

Meanwhile Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, will retain their titles as Her Royal Highnesses with it previously reported that King Charles was was very keen to ‘protect’ his nieces.

However, royal historian and author Andrew Lownie believes the recent fallout doesn’t mark ‘the end’ of controversy for the shunned royal. 

Read more on Andrew’s humiliation… 

Andrew LOSES Prince title and is forced out of Royal Lodge 

Read Buckingham Palace’s statement in full 

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to RETAIN their titles 

What now for Fergie? 

How King Charles will remove his brother Andrew’s title 

‘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,’ he told The Mirror. 

When queried if he believed a police probe into Andrew was more likely following yesterday’s announcement, he remarked that the ex-duke was being ‘throw[n] under the bus’.

‘Yes, I’ve been saying for some time they’re [the Royal family] going to throw Andew under the bus to save themselves and this is the first indication of that,’ he added

‘This should have been done years ago. I think it’s been Virginia Guiffre’s book that kind of made the palace realise that there is a big problem here.’

Last week, the row over the Royal Lodge continued to grow amid damning revelations in a posthumous memoir from Andrew’s sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre, who took her own life this year, aged 41.

Ms Giuffre’s explosive book Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice was released in this month, with the manuscript having been completed before she died.

Inside, she detailed her years spent as a sex slave to Epstein and his British madam Ghislaine Maxwell, amid claims she had been trafficked to the ex-duke three times, and whom she called ‘entitled’ and viewed sex as his ‘birthright’. 

Within the 400-page autobiography, she also alleged the ex-duke said ‘thank you’ in a ‘clipped British accent’ after their alleged first encounter when she was 17.

She also recalled how Ghislaine Maxwell praised her following the encounter, saying, ‘You did well, the prince had fun’.

Andrew denied ever meeting Virginia Giuffre. In 2022, he settled a US civil case she lodged for a reported £12million, reportedly receiving money from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to help meet the costs. 

The settlement came with no admission of liability. 

Yesterday, Ms Guiffre’s family spoke out after the announcement proudly stating how ‘an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.’

‘Virginia Roberts Giuffre, our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her.

‘Today, she declares victory.

‘We, her family, along with her survivor sisters, continue Virginia’s battle and will not rest until the same accountability applies to all of the abusers and abettors connected to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.’

The Royal Family had been prepared for further scandal the book would likely cause, knowing it was to be published this month.

In the wake of the Giuffre scandal, Andrew is facing a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office.

Yesterday, anti–monarchy campaign group Republic said it has instructed lawyers to investigate the prince and, if appropriate, press ahead with legal proceedings.

The Daily Mail understands the allegations it is focusing on relate to accusations he sexually assaulted Giuffre, that he asked a royal protection officer to look into her background and impropriety when he served as an official UK trade envoy.

But Republic said it is mounting its own bid to take him to court because the legal and political response to the claims has been ‘weak and inadequate’ to date.

It said it has made a ‘powerful, principled argument for justice to be done for the victims of sexual abuse, and for those who corrupt public office to be held accountable’.

‘If not us, then who?’ asked Graham Smith, CEO of the anti–monarchy group.

‘It’s a devastating indictment on the UK’s criminal justice system, police and politicians – not to mention the king and heir – that we must resort to a private prosecution.

‘It should be a cause for concern that so many people believe – rightly in my view – that the royals are not treated equally in law. Equality in law is a basic tenet of democracy.

‘I firmly believe there is strong enough evidence to justify a serious investigation. The authorities and politicians appear to want to look the other way, while minimising the accusations made against Andrew.

‘The truth must prevail and justice must be seen to be done.’

A private prosecution brought by Republic would not involve a statutory prosecutor such as Crown Prosecution Service, which brings cases on behalf of the Crown.

They are commonly brought by organisations such as the RSPCA, but can be brought by private individuals.

In some cases, a party wishing to bring a private prosecution may have to seek the consent of the Government’s top legal adviser the Attorney General, or the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is the head of the CPS.

The CPS also has the right to take on a private prosecution – and even to bring it to an end if it considers the prosecution to be brought maliciously.

It is understood earlier this month the Metropolitan Police was ‘actively’ looking into the claims Andrew had asked his personal protection officer to investigate Ms Giuffre, and that he was interviewed by detectives at home last week.

A bombshell email published by the Mail on Sunday earlier this month also revealed how Andrew asked his taxpayer–funded protection officer to dig into her past, two months after the infamous photo of him with Giuffre and Maxwell came to light.

In an extraordinary message to Ed Perkins, Queen Elizabeth’s deputy press secretary, he wrote: ‘It would also seem she has a criminal record in the States. I have given her DoB [date of birth] and social security number for investigation with XXX, the on duty ppo [personal protection officer].’

It comes as e-mails from Andrew to Epstein emerged, where the former duke said he was ‘concerned’ about the impact this newspaper’s revelations would have on his friend after the infamous picture of the royal with Ms Giuffre was released.

He reassured the vile billionaire they would ‘rise above’ press scrutiny. 

 The correspondence was sent to Epstein 12 weeks after Andrew had supposedly ceased all contact with the convicted sex offender.

The leaked email provides definitive proof the Prince lied in his car-crash interview with BBC’s Newsnight when he claimed he ‘never had any contact’ with the disgraced financier after the pair were famously pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.

Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who has previously called for Prince Andrew to testify before a US Congressional committee about his links to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to ‘clear his name’, last night again urged Andrew to give evidence.

In a statement, he said: ‘It’s clear that Prince Andrew has information about Epstein’s crimes and he must do more than just give up titles or hide from the public spotlight.

‘He owes it to the victims to share everything he knows about Epstein’s criminal operation and come before the Oversight Committee.

‘Regardless, we will continue to pursue the files and all the evidence, no matter how rich and powerful the perpetrators involved.’

In another world exclusive the Mail on Sunday also exposed a bombshell email revealing how Fergie cynically lied when she publicly disowned the vile billionaire.

It was just weeks after her public statement that she wrote him a gushing private message, describing disgraced Epstein as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ – confessing she only distanced herself from him to save her own reputation.

Now, the former Duchess of York will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson.

Following the revelation, Sarah was dropped by seven charities after ‘humbly apologising’ to Epstein after disavowing him amid his conviction for child sexual abuse offences.

The bombshell leaked email shows Sarah wrote to the convicted sex offender to ‘humbly apologise’ in 2011 just weeks after telling the press she had cut all ties with him.

In an earlier interview that year, she described her involvement with Epstein, who had served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor, as a ‘gigantic error of judgment’.

The organisations who have since cut ties with the duchess include the Teenage Cancer Trust, which she had backed since 1990, the British Heart Foundation, children’s hospice charity Julia’s House and Prevent Breast Cancer.

A spokesman for Sarah previously said the email was sent to counter an aggressive threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation.

The series of scandalous emails piled on the pressure for the Royal Family to severe ties with the ex-Yorks, with internal talks beginning after Prince William was left ‘seething’ by his uncle’s behaviour at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month

Andrew was pictured sidling up to the Prince and Princess of Wales, which the heir to the throne saw as him being distracted from the ceremony.

No 10 has also reportedly been pressuring the royals to deal with the scandal, which has run on for years and saw Andrew step back from public life in 2019.

The intervention from Downing Street came after the prince was entangled in the ongoing Chinese spying row.

And only further embarrassment descended after it was revealed Andrew met with the ‘spymaster’ at the heart of the collapsed China spy case at least three times.

The under-fire royal, already mired in controversy over his friendship with another alleged Beijing spy, forged links with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mandarin Cai Qi, with the pair posing as they celebrated ‘jointly building a golden era in China-UK relations’.

Prosecutors now believe Cai was presiding over a massive intelligence-gathering operation to steal British secrets, overseeing the alleged activities of parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and China-based English teacher Christopher Berry.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing and the case against them collapsed on the eve of trial last month after the Government refused to label China an ‘enemy’.

After Andrew and his ex-wife agreed to relinquish their titles, with Buckingham Palace releasing a statement on the Prince’s behalf.

It marked the first time it had spoken for him since his car crash Newsnight interview in 2019.

The statement read: ‘In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

‘I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. 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. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.’

Yesterday, politicians form across the aisle supported King Charles’ decision to strip Andrew of all of his titles and Royal Lodge residence. 

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said His Majesty is ‘absolutely right’  to do so, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch remarked how the decision must have been ‘very difficult’ for the King. 

‘It’s clear that Andrew’s position had become totally untenable, having disgraced his office and embarrassed the country,’ Sir Davey said. 

‘This is an important step towards rebuilding trust in our institutions and drawing a line under this whole sorry saga.’

The Lib Democrats had urged the Government to make time for a debate on Andrew’s Royal Lodge lease in Parliament.

Meanwhile Ms Badenoch said it must have been ‘very difficult’ for the King to take the steps against his sibling. 

However, she maintained it was right for the public not to tolerate sexual abuse allegations.

Speaking on an LBC Radio phone-in, she said: ‘I’ve been following this story more about a family. It’s a very sad state of affairs.

‘I think that the King has clearly felt that this is the right decision for the royal family. It must have been a very difficult thing for him to have done. I mean, having to do that to your own brother.

‘But the standards and expectations in society now are very high. People expect to see the very highest levels of integrity.

‘And I’m afraid the whole Jeffrey Epstein saga and everyone it has touched, from Prince Andrew to Peter Mandelson, has just shown that the public has no truck whatsoever with any kind of sexual abuse, sexual offences, especially of minors. And I think that that’s quite right.’

The leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said on X: ‘The right decision and an important moment for the victims of Epstein.

‘I hope all those who were elected to Parliament and chose to defend inaction rather than speak out now regret the choice they made.’

The SNP had put forward a motion to create a new law to formally strip Andrew of his dukedom.