Prince Andrew’s coat of arms has been removed from Windsor Castle as his connection to Jeffrey Epstein continues to make headlines.
Multiple outlets have confirmed that the banner signifying his connection to the Order of the Garter was taken down from its post inside St George’s Chapel. The honor has been given to multiple senior members of the royal family and has been hanging since Andrew became a Knight of the Garter in 2006.
A virtual tour of St George’s Chapel still shows four banners hanging in the space (it’s unclear when that footage was shot) but more recent images have only three flags remaining.
The Sun was the first to break the news of the flag’s removal on Thursday, October 23, claiming that “the removal of the display usually only happens in cases of high treason or taking up arms against the Crown.”
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Us Weekly has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. (Members of the royal family have yet to publicly address the ongoing scandal.)
Andrew, 65, gave up his honors along with his royal title earlier this month.
“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” he shared in a statement to Us Weekly on October 17. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”
Andrew first made headlines for his connection to late sex offender Epstein in 2019. At the time, Virginia Giuffre alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Andrew in 2001 when she was underage. The former Duke of York has continued to deny the allegations. Giuffre eventually sued Andrew for sexual abuse in 2021 and they settled out of court the following year.
Giuffre died by suicide at age 41 in April, but posthumously released a memoir titled Nobody’s Girl on Tuesday, October 21, which included claims of multiple alleged sexual encounters with both Andrew and Epstein.
“In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about how he behaved,” she wrote of the disgraced royal. “He was friendly enough, but still entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.”
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Andrew’s decision to give up his royal title came days before Giuffre’s memoir was published.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further,” his statement concluded. “I will therefore no longer use my title or the honors which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
In her book, Giuffre claimed that there were three incidents with Andrew when she was 17 and 18 years old. One of which was an alleged “orgy” that included Epstein.
“The other girls all appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English,” Giuffre wrote. “Epstein laughed about how they couldn’t really communicate, saying they are the easiest girls to get along with.”
