‘Terrible Thing’: Trump After King Charles Removes Andrew’s ‘Prince’ Title Over Epstein Row

<p>US President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Britain&rsquo;s royal family following King Charles III&rsquo;s decision to strip Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evict him from his Windsor residence over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p>
<p>”It&rsquo;s a terrible thing that&rsquo;s happened to the family,” Trump said on Sunday. “That&rsquo;s been a tragic situation, and it&rsquo;s too bad. I mean, I feel badly for the family.”</p>
<h2>King Charles Removes Andrew&rsquo;s Titles And Residence</h2>
<p>Buckingham Palace confirmed last week that Prince Andrew, now referred to as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been formally notified to surrender his lease at the Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate. The 64-year-old will reportedly move to private accommodations on the Sandringham Estate in eastern England.</p>
<p>In addition, the UK government announced plans to strip Andrew of his final honorary military title, Vice-Admiral, a symbolic position he retained after losing all other military honors in 2022. Those titles were previously revoked by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, following the civil lawsuit filed against him by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein&rsquo;s primary accusers.</p>
<p>”We&rsquo;ve seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he&rsquo;s had throughout the military,” Defence Minister John Healey said. “Guided again by the King, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has.”</p>
<h2>A Scandal That Won&rsquo;t Fade: Andrew&rsquo;s Ties To Epstein</h2>
<p>Prince Andrew&rsquo;s fall from grace traces back to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who was convicted in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution. The two reportedly met in 1999 through Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew&rsquo;s then-girlfriend and Epstein&rsquo;s longtime associate.</p>
<p>Despite Epstein&rsquo;s criminal conviction, the pair were photographed together in New York&rsquo;s Central Park in 2010, two years after Epstein&rsquo;s release from jail. At the time, Andrew insisted he had cut off contact, but recently released emails tell a different story.</p>
<p>In a message dated April 15, 2010, Andrew wrote to Epstein saying it would be “good to catch up in person.” The exchange also revealed Epstein suggesting that Andrew meet Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan Chase executive later banned from the UK banking sector for misleading regulators about his connections to Epstein.</p>
<p>Andrew replied, “I have no immediate plans to drop by New York, but I think I should at some stage soon. I&rsquo;ll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer. It would be good to catch up in person.”</p>
<h2>Mounting Pressure And Public Backlash</h2>
<p>The scandal surrounding Andrew intensified this year following renewed scrutiny over his rent-free arrangement at Royal Lodge and the publication of Virginia Giuffre&rsquo;s memoir before her death by suicide in April. Giuffre had long alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17, claims the prince has repeatedly and emphatically denied.</p>
<h2>Trump&rsquo;s Own Epstein Connection</h2>
<p>Trump himself has faced questions about his past association with Epstein. While acknowledging he knew the financier socially, Trump has insisted the two had a falling out years before Epstein&rsquo;s 2019 death in a New York jail cell, where he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.</p>
<p>Several lawmakers, including members of both major U.S. parties, have called on the government to release files related to Epstein&rsquo;s case and any ties to public figures.</p>