For nearly four decades, Sarah Ferguson has been recognized as the Duchess of York. However, that chapter closes tonight with the news that she has relinquished her esteemed royal title, following her former husband Prince Andrew’s decision to do the same.

Under significant pressure from King Charles, and after consulting with family members such as Prince William, the next in line to the throne, as well as his siblings Princess Anne and Prince Edward, Prince Andrew has chosen this path.

In addition to stepping down from his title, Andrew will also forgo his roles as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and as a member of the Order of the Garter.

Despite these changes, Andrew retains his title of prince by virtue of being born to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Moreover, their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will continue to maintain their royal titles, a privilege afforded by their late grandmother.

Fergie – who only received her royal title through her marriage – will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson in any official capacities.

Her Duchess of York title was the only connection to the Royal Family Fergie had retained after she divorced Andrew in 1996 and ceased being a Royal Highness.

Despite their divorce, the couple have continued to live together and they will remain at the lavish 30-bedroom Royal Lodge at Windsor despite tonight’s announcement.

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

Tonight Buckingham Palace issued a statement on the prince’s behalf, where he 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.

Fergie’s own relationship with Epstein has also come under scrutiny after a newly uncovered email from 2011 revealed that she called the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein a ‘supreme friend’.

Since the email, which also included a private apology for Fergie’s public rejection of Epstein, was made public multiple charities dropped the duchess as a patron.

This is just the most recent headline grabbing controversy involving the former Duchess of York.

Perhaps most notoriously she was pictured lying on a sunbed in St Tropez, while Texan millionaire John Bryan kissed and sucked her toes. 

The intimate images remain some of the most embarrassing pictures of a royal ever made public.

Virginia Giuffre photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London in 2001 

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 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 in June 2016 at Royal Ascot

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

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.

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.

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.’