Then-Prince Andrew, Duke of York walks behind the coffin during the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. Martin Meissner/WPA Pool/Getty

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, Duke of York, appears set to be stripped of his last honorary military title as the British royals continue their efforts to distance themselves from King Charles III's younger brother over his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"We've seen Andrew surrender the military positions that he's had and we're looking now at the one remaining position he has, which is the honorary vice admiral position, and we've got a process underway for that" to be removed, Defense Secretary John Healey told Britain's Sky News on Sunday.

In a separate interview on the same subject with CBS News' partner network BBC News, the defense chief said "it's a move the king has indicated we should take."

Mountbatten Windsor is the late Queen Elizabeth II's third child. He spent decades in public life as a working member of the royal family, but revelations of his historical ties to Epstein have turned him into a pariah figure. In 2016, he was named in a civil lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that Epstein paid her to have sex with the former prince on several occasions. Mountbatten Windsor has repeatedly denied the claims, but he settled the case out of court with Giuffre in 2022, for an undisclosed sum.

The Coffin Carrying Queen Elizabeth II Is Transferred From Buckingham Palace To The Palace Of Westminster
Then-Prince Andrew, Duke of York walks behind the coffin during the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022 in London, United Kingdom.
Martin Meissner/WPA Pool/Getty
That settlement failed to stanch criticism of the former prince and the resulting pressure on the royal family, however, as new information continued to emerge about his historic connections with Epstein in the wake of a damning 2019 interview with the BBC's Newsnight, in which he defended his ties to the disgraced financier.


In the years after that interview, right up until this year, amid revelations about correspondence between Epstein and the then-prince, the royal family appeared reluctant to intervene, allowing him to step away from public duties and to give up many of his titles and privileges of his own volition.

Last week, however, in a landmark move, King Charles announced that his younger brother would be deprived of the title of prince and told to leave his 30-room, tax-payer-funded Royal Lodge home in Windsor.

One of the few titles Andrew Mountbatten Windsor still holds is honorary Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, which he received on his 55th birthday in 2015. It is unclear how long the process to remove that title, which defense chief Healy has now confirmed is underway, might take.

The former prince had a 22-year career in the Royal Navy, including serving as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War, and commanding the anti-mine vessel HMS Cottesmore.


Asked about the ongoing scandal, President Trump told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell in an interview that aired Sunday on 60 Minutes that "it's a terrible thing that's happened" to the royal family.

"That's been a tragic situation," he said. "And, I mean, I feel badly for the family."

CBS News has contacted the royal family for comment on the pending removal of the former prince's Royal Naval title.

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