Camilla was ‘concerned’ Andrew row would impact on her work with abuse survivors

The decision to strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his honours and titles was influenced by the Queen’s concerns about his impact on her work with sex abuse victims, it has been claimed.

According to the Telegraph, Camilla was appalled by Andrew’s association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and felt the ongoing row was getting in the way of her public duties.

The Queen has supported survivors of sex attacks and domestic abuse for years and it was recently revealed in a new book that she herself fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a teenager.

The King stripped his younger brother of his Prince and Duke of York titles in a dramatic move on Thursday night and a statement from Buckingham Palace stressed both his and Camilla’s thoughts were with victims of abuse.

The statement said: “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

It is understood the driving force behind the removal was “serious lapses of judgment” by Andrew and the final decision was made by the King, with support from his wider family including the Prince of Wales.

Earlier in October it was announced Andrew had agreed to stop using his titles but would remain a prince and retain his dukedom ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Virginia Giuffre, who had accused the former duke of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

Andrew strenuously denies the allegations.

The Telegraph reported the Queen was “deeply uncomfortable” about leading anti-abuse campaigns, including domestic abuse charity SafeLives of which she is patron, while Andrew remained a public figure.

The attack on Camilla in the 1960s was revealed in book Power And The Palace: The Inside Story Of The Monarchy And 10 Downing Street by Valentine Low, a former royal reporter for The Times newspaper.

It is understood the book was not approved by Buckingham Palace and the Queen took a pragmatic approach to its publication, but did not encourage it.

A source close to Camilla said at the time: “If some good comes of this publication, which is that the wider issues are discussed, it de-stigmatises the whole topic and empowers girls today to take action and seek help, and to talk about it, then that’s a good outcome.”

The King’s actions have effectively ended Andrew’s public life, and he has also given up his 30-room Royal Lodge home in Windsor and will move to the private Sandringham estate, although he may not leave until the new year.

Sandringham in Norfolk is the venue for the traditional Christmas gathering for members of the royal family and the delay will mean any potential encounter with Andrew over the festive period is avoided.

A new YouGov poll has found that while 79% of people questioned backed the King’s decision to strip Andrew of his titles, 58% of the 4,739 adults quizzed on Friday felt the royal family had moved too slowly in dealing with the controversy.

It appears the royal family is distancing itself from Andrew and attempting to limit any brand damage to the monarchy if future revelations involving him come to light.

There has also been a series of damaging newspaper allegations including that Andrew tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against Ms Giuffre.

The force said previously it is looking into the allegations after the Mail on Sunday claimed Andrew passed Ms Giuffre’s date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.

The Public Accounts Committee has already confirmed it is writing to the Crown Estate, effectively Andrew’s landlord, and the Treasury asking for further information about the prince’s lease which caused a public outcry when it emerged he was paying a “peppercorn” rent.

Charles’s actions are already bearing fruit as Andrew’s name has been struck from the official roll of the peerage which means his Duke of York title will no longer be used officially.

In the next few days the King is expected to send to the Lord Chancellor David Lammy the royal warrant, affecting the dukedom, and letters patent which will formally remove Andrew’s entitlement to use the title prince and HRH style.

Andrew stepped down from public duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein and as a non-working royal does not serve as a counsellor of state, who can deputise for the monarch if he is overseas on an official trip or ill.

He remains eighth in line to the throne but in the highly unlikely scenario Andrew was on the verge of becoming monarch it is likely public pressure would intervene.

But there have been calls to bring in legislation to stop any chance, however remote, of him becoming King.

Downing Street said there were no plans for legislative changes, when asked about potentially making it easier to strip peerages in the future or remove Andrew from the line of succession.

Andrew will move to an undisclosed property on the King’s Sandringham estate, with the accommodation privately funded by Charles, who will also make private financial provisions for his brother.

The former duke had a “cast-iron” lease for his Royal Lodge home and only after negotiations with the King’s representatives did he agree to serve formal notice on Thursday to surrender the lease, which had more than 50 years left to run.

But the process around surrendering the lease and other formalities has some similarities with buying a property, which can be drawn out, although it is understood things are moving as quickly as practicable.

It has been reported Andrew will not be moving to Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, the property favoured by the late Queen and her husband the late Duke of Edinburgh who preferred its cosy surroundings to the main Sandringham House.

But there is a number other properties available, ranging from Park House, the birthplace and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales, to York Cottage, where King George V lived before becoming monarch.

Sarah Ferguson lived with her ex-husband Andrew at Royal Lodge but will not be housed by Charles and will have to find a new home.