King Charles has been photographed publicly for the first time since news broke that his brother, Prince Andrew, will relinquish his remaining titles amidst a new wave of controversies.

The 76-year-old monarch was spotted driving to Crathie Kirk for Sunday morning services, located near Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, the royal family’s Scottish retreat.

With a somber expression, King Charles appeared tense, reflecting the challenging period the royal family is currently navigating.

On Friday, Prince Andrew announced he would no longer carry the title of Duke of York and would step down from the Order of the Garter, the oldest and most prestigious chivalric order in the country.

This decision reportedly came after significant pressure from King Charles and discussions with other family members, including Prince William, the heir apparent, along with Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

It is believed that King Charles spoke with his brother over the phone from Scotland regarding the matter and reportedly feels relieved by the resolution. A source noted, “Something had to be done.”

Andrew will also relinquish his position as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order but he will remain a prince, having been born the son of Queen Elizabeth.

His ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, with whom he will continue to live at the lavish 30-bedroom Royal Lodge at Windsor, will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson. 

King Charles has been pictured for the first time since it was revealed his brother Prince Andrew will surrender his remaining titles

Last night, the brother of the late Virginia Giuffre – who claimed she had sex with Andrew in London when she was 17 – called on King Charles to go one step further and strip him of his ‘prince’ title.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail today: ‘When William becomes King, he is likely to pursue a tough policy and we may never see Andrew or Sarah in public again at a royal event.’ 

There was a sense of relief at Buckingham Palace that the King’s brother had finally ‘fallen on his sword’ after years of pressure to keep a low profile, despite being already being stripped of his HRH title and made to step down from public duties in 2022.

But there was also an air of weariness that the monarchy had been forced to endure another week of deeply damaging headlines at the disgraced duke’s hand.

In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace on his behalf, Andrew made clear he continued to deny allegations of sexual assault made against him by the late Virginia Giuffre, who he met through paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

But he conceded continued revelations about his dealings with Epstein, as reported by The Mail on Sunday, were a ‘distraction’ from the good work of the Royal Family. 

He said his decision was prompted by his desire to ‘always… put my duty to my family and country first’ – echoing his infamous comment that he chose to break off relations with Epstein by flying to New York to tell him the news personally, because he was an ‘honourable’ man.

In a statement, the family of Ms Giuffre, who took her own life in April, said Andrew’s decision was ‘vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere’.

Andrew and Charles at Westminster Cathedral last month after the Duchess of Kent’s funeral

Prince Andrew’s statement released by Buckingham Palace

They added: ‘This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained, ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me’.’

Last weekend, the MoS exclusively revealed that Andrew had publicly lied when he claimed he never had contact with Epstein again following a ‘final’ meeting with him in December 2010.

It obtained emails sent 12 weeks after that meeting in which Andrew contacted the sex offender to reassure him, the day after a picture of the prince with Ms Giuffre was published, that ‘we are in this together’ and would have to ‘rise above it’.

Sickeningly, Andrew concluded: ‘Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!’ It was signed ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’, as a knight of the Order of the Garter.

It was also revealed that Andrew met, on at least three occasions, the alleged Chinese spymaster at the centre of the current Whitehall espionage case.

Sources have told the Daily Mail that things came to a head this week after a ‘constant drip, drip’ of fresh claims, of which the MoS’s email revelations proved the ‘most significant issue’. The changes will take effect immediately and were decided upon in recognition of the fact that the prince’s personal issues continued to be an ‘unwelcome distraction’ from the work of the wider Royal Family.

However, the King has acknowledged that he cannot legally force Andrew out of his Royal Lodge home and he will continue to remain there so long as he can afford the rent.

The prince has a 100-year-plus private tenancy agreement with the Crown Estate which is said to be ‘unaffected’ by issues relating to his honours and titles.

The prince’s titles, rather than being stripped from him, are ‘in abeyance’ – they effectively remain ‘extant but inactive’.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September 2025 

It is understood that part of the King’s thinking was to prevent a waste of parliamentary time formally taking the titles away. Any move to do so would have required an Act of Parliament.

But His Majesty was also very keen to ‘protect’ Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who remain Her Royal Highnesses as granddaughters of Queen Elizabeth. If their father’s titles had been removed, theirs would have been affected too, and Charles was keen to avoid this as he holds them ‘in high regard and affection’.

‘He wouldn’t have wanted to sign off on anything that would impact them,’ a source said.

Andrew remains a prince because he is the son of Queen Elizabeth II, according to Letters Patent – a written expression of wishes by a monarch – issued in 1917 by George V, updated by Queen Elizabeth in 2012. A source confirmed: ‘The title of duke will not be used and consider in ‘abeyance’.

‘His HRH title is already inactive. The prince’s other titles and honours now join it.’

Notably Andrew formally remains a Counsellor of State: to act on behalf of the King, in ‘limited and defined circumstances’ should he become incapacitated or is abroad. Prince Harry is another who could theoretically act in such circumstances.

But sources stressed that it was already made clear, via Parliament in 2022, that non-working members of the Royal Family will not be called to serve in this capacity so the position is again inactive and not worth taking up parliamentary time to change.

Sources also confirmed – as previously revealed by the Mail – that Andrew will not join the Royal Family at Christmas at Sandringham ever again, although his daughters are welcome.

A royal source told the Mail: ‘There is relief that this is over.’

A source close to Sarah Ferguson said she had always used her maiden name professionally and had ‘fallen into line’ behind Andrew’s decision.

‘It won’t actually affect her in any way and she remains supportive of him,’ they said.

Royal author Andrew Lownie told The Times that Andrew could voluntarily vacate Royal Lodge but that he is likely to stay there ‘as long as he can afford to’. Mr Lownie said Andrew pays a peppercorn rent and has spent up to £10million restoring the mansion. 

‘Besides, Royal Lodge is the last status symbol for a man who has little sense of his own identity beyond once being second in line to the throne,’ he added. 

The former duke has a ‘cast-iron’ tenancy agreement until 2078 but there are growing calls for King Charles to kick him out. 

After another humiliating week for the House of York, it’s understood Andrew cancelled an extravagant birthday party for Fergie at Royal Lodge last Wednesday as the Epstein scandal engulfed the pair yet again. 

It has also emerged in recent days that Andrew insisted Ms Giuffre sign a gagging order so he did not embarrass Queen Elizabeth during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The bombshell claim is set to be revealed in Ms Giuffre’s tell-all memoir from beyond the grave, which will be published on Tuesday. 

She writes: ‘I agreed to a one-year gag order, which seemed important to the Prince because it ensured that his mother’s Platinum Jubilee would not be tarnished any more than it already had been.’ 

In a statement, Virginia Giuffre’s family members said: ‘We, the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, believe that Prince Andrew’s decision to give up his titles is vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere. This decisive action is a powerful step forward in our fight to bring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking network to justice.

‘Further, we believe it is appropriate for King Charles to remove the title of Prince.

‘This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained, ‘He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me’. 

‘This is not just a victory for her, but for every single survivor of the horrific crimes perpetrated by Epstein and his co-conspirators.

‘The recent release of emails between Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein, specifically one sent in early 2011, just after a photo of Virginia, Prince Andrew, and Ghislaine Maxwell was published, raises serious questions about the nature of their relationship. 

‘In that email, Prince Andrew wrote, ‘we are in this together,’ and ‘we’ll play more soon,’ comments that further validate the truths that Virginia had long spoken about. This evidence starkly contradicts Prince Andrew’s claims during his 2018 BBC interview, when he stated he had ceased all contact with Epstein in 2010.

‘Epstein pled guilty to soliciting underage prostitution in 2008. These emails not only highlight Prince Andrew’s contradictory statements but also suggest a disturbing willingness to deflect from the truth and evade accountability. His actions and words indicate a belief that he could escape the consequences of his associations.

‘We hope that the days of impunity for the powerful are over, and protection for predators will no longer be tolerated. We hope a higher standard has been set for our leaders in office in the United States –one we will work tirelessly to follow here. It is time for accountability, transparency, and justice for all survivors.’

The Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348, is Britain’s most senior order of chivalry.

It is an honour known to be highly prized by Andrew, and its removal is a serious blow for him.

The monarch can strip the honour from members of the order, although it is understood that Charles would much prefer his brother to voluntarily relinquish the title.

One of the last people to be removed from the Order of the Garter was Emperor Hirohito of Japan after his country joined the Second World War in 1941.