WINDSOR, ENGLAND – APRIL 20: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at
Disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has long revelled in his royal status – earning the disapproval of Buckingham Palace staff for his “arrogant and entitled” behaviour.
But in October 2025, King Charles initiated a formal process to strip the then-Prince Andrew of his style, titles and honours – a virtually unprecedented move that is likely to have stung deeply.
And according to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, the fact that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters, Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 36, retain their royal status is rubbing salt into the wound. Under royal protocol, Andrew will now be obliged to bow to his own daughters whenever they meet, as well being downgraded to a much less grand royal residence.
“Andrew stands on ceremony; titles, the lot – it’s all vital to him, that rigid bowing and curtseying business,’ Lownie writes in his Substack. “This’ll rile him proper: bowing to his daughters.”
For Andrew, Lownie adds: “The pecking order matters.” The one-time Duke has even insisted on having the honorific “HRH” written on all of the cardboard boxes used to move his belongings from the palatial Royal Lodge to the far humbler Marsh Farm.
Beatrice and Eugenie remain royal princesses (Image: Dave Benett, Dave Benett/Getty Images)
It’s not entirely clear how often Andrew is having to bow to his daughters. Royal expert Richard Eden, speaking on the Palace Confidential podcast, points out that Eugenie “has been sort of avoiding her father, whereas Beatrice has been carrying on visiting him.”
Royal biographer Robert Hardman says that Andrew “will have to bow to everybody – assuming he’s in the room with the family.” Asked whether Andrew would take that well, Robert bluntly replied: “No, I don’t.”
The sudden change in Andrew’s status will be difficult for other members of the family too, says the Daily Mail’s royal correspondent Rebecca English. She says that Princess Anne, for example, will find interacting with her younger brother quite awkward.
“I think it’s been a difficult experience for her because he’s still her brother and she loves him,” she said. “You can sack them as a working member of the royal family, but it’s very difficult to sack them as a member of your family.”
But that is what the King has effectively done, she adds: “I don’t think the King takes any pleasure in doing it, but he’s angry… he has brought them not just as a royal family but as individuals into disrepute.”
Andrew has consistently denied all allegations of sexual impropriety linked to his association with sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein, as well as accusations of misconduct in public office related to his work as UK Trade Envoy.
Andrew’s demotion has been ‘difficult’ for his sister Anne (Image: Max Mumby/Indigo, Getty Images)
Not only Andrew’s family, but his staff may also struggle with his new, much lower social status. Those serving the father-of-two at Marsh Farm have reportedly been given clear instructions on how to refer to him.
“He’s lost his HRH, prince and duke titles and so staff, who didn’t know how to correctly address him, have been instructed that he is still to be called ‘Sir’,” a source told The Sun. “He will be given his own chef and valet at Marsh Farm, which is a climbdown from the luxury he was previously afforded.”
The bill for this pared-down yet still very comfortable lifestyle is reportedly being footed personally by the King, who has assumed responsibility for his brother’s finances to prevent him from becoming reliant on external support.
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