The royals who have lost their titles and why – from Andrew to King Edward

The second son of Queen Elizabeth II, formerly Prince Andrew, has been stripped of his royal titles and will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The 65-year-old, who must also leave his Royal Lodge home, voluntarily gave up his Duke of York title earlier this month but, until yesterday, he still went by his Prince title.

However, last night Buckingham Palace confirmed that Andrew would no longer be able to use any royal titles.

It comes after allegation’s of sexual abuse claims by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April this year, and his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

Andrew isn’t the first royal to lose his title in recent history.

Here we take a look at who else either relinquished their titles themselves or had them stripped and why.

Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany and Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1884–1954)

Prince Charles Edwardwas the grandson of Queen Victoria and first cousin of King George V.

In 1893, his uncle Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany (the same duchy once held by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband). But Alfred’s only son died in 1899, leaving no male heir.

By the duchy’s succession law, the next male in line from the Coburg branch was Prince Arthur, Prince Charles Edward’s father but Wilhelm II opposed a man who had served in the British army becoming ruler of a German state.

Instead the title went to Prince Charles Edward – even though he was a 15-year-old schoolboy in England.

He was moved to Germany by his family and later fought for the country in World War I – which he apparently told his sister he felt obligated to do, because of public pressure in his new home country.

As a result, Under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917, he was stripped of all his British titles (which included Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, Baron Arklow).

He remained in Germany for the remainder of his life and became involved with the Nazi Party.

King Edward VIII (1894–1972)

One of the most famous title losses in recent British history is that of King Edward VIII.

He abdicated in December 1936 primarily because he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an American woman who had been divorced twice, and the British government, the Church of England, and the Dominions refused to accept her as Queen.

His younger brother, Albert, Duke of York – Queen Elizabeth II’s father – became King George VI and made Edward Duke of Windsor.

Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor, but was denied the style ‘Her Royal Highness’ (HRH) — a lifelong sore point for both of them.

They settled in France, first near Tours, then in Paris, living a life of high society, fashion, and frequent travel

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021)
Queen II’s husband, who passed away the year before her own death in 2022, was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

A condition of marrying Princess Elizabeth, first in line to the thrown at the time, was to renounce his Greek and Danish titles.

The pair wed in 1947, at which time he became a naturalised British subject and took the surname Mountbatten.

King George VI gave him the title of Duke of Edinburgh as well as the subsidiary titles Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich.

He was also known as Royal Highness, but didn’t become a prince again until 1957, when Elizabeth bestowed the title on her husband five years after becoming queen.

Prince Michael of Kent (b. 1942)
Prince Michael of Kent lost his title as prince when he married a Roman Catholic, Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, in 1978.

Under the Act of Settlement 1701, marrying a Catholic disqualified him from the line of succession.

These rights were restored in 2013 under the Succession to the Crown Act, which removed that restriction.

He has since retained his princely title.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984)
In 2020, after stepping back as a working royal, Prince Harry, together with his wife Meghan agreed not to use “HRH” and to give up official royal duties and funding.

The pair, who now live in the US, have, however, retained their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Earl and Countess of Dumbarton, Baron and Baroness Kilkeel.

Their children Archie and Lilibet were not prince and princess at birth, because they were not grandchildren of the monarch, but they gained the right to these titles when King Charles acceded to the throne.

Prince Friso of the Netherlands (1968-2013)

Prince Friso, the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, went from Prince of the Netherlands to Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau in when he married Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003.

She admitted knowing Bruinsma but denied any romantic or criminal involvement.

However, reports suggested she had been more closely associated with him than initially disclosed which caused political uproar and embarrassment to the royal family.

His new title meant he was a prince socially and by family courtesy, but not constitutionally royal, which meant no taxpayer funding, no state duties and no place in succession.

In February 2012, while skiing off-piste in Lech, Austria, Friso was buried by an avalanche.

He suffered severe brain damage and was left in a coma for over a year.

The prince died in 2013, aged 44 and his funeral was private, reflecting his non-official royal status, though the entire royal family attended.

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