LONDON, December 1. /TASS/. King Charles III's brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been officially stripped of his remaining royal titles amid the scandal surrounding his ties with American financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to an entry in the official government publication, The Gazette.

"The King has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor to be a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated 23 April 2006, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order," the entry in The Gazette, the UK’s official public record, stated. The Order of the Garter is the country’s oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry.

In addition, the British monarch also directed that "the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, dated 19 February 2011, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order." This honor also acknowledges public service, with recipients selected personally by the monarch.

According to the publication, "Andrew has already been stripped of his birthright to be a prince and an HRH and had his Duke of York title removed from the Roll of the Peerage by Charles."

The former duke stepped down from his royal duties in 2019 after denying allegations of sexually assaulting a teenage Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein for years and settled her civil claim in 2022 for millions of dollars.

Epstein was arrested by New York State law enforcement in July 2019. The prosecutor’s office reported that between 2002 and 2005 he arranged visits to his Manhattan home for dozens of underage girls, the youngest being 14.

Epstein’s friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and retired officials not only from the United States but also from many other countries, including former heads of state, major entrepreneurs, and show business stars. The criminal prosecution of the financier in the United States ended after he committed suicide in a prison cell in August 2019.