What would it take for Andrew to be stripped of Dukedom?

Queen Elizabeth II’s second son has long been embroiled in scandal due to his friendship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but has denied allegations around his own actions - including that he had sex with the accuser Virginia Giuffre three times.

Read also: Prince Andrew has 'not paid rent on the Royal Lodge since 2003' as MPs push to strip him of dukedom

Read also: All of the accusations made against Prince Andrew in Virginia Giuffre's book

Andrew was on Friday forced to relinquish his royal titles, following a "discussion" with his brother, King Charles III, but said this was not an acknowledgement of guilt.

His loss of the royal titles came ahead of the publication of Ms Giuffre’s memoir, which alleges that she had sex three times with Andrew while she was still a teenager.

Andrew has always denied that he had sex with her and said in 2019 that he couldn't remember meeting her.

A statement said: “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. 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.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Andrew is no longer, therefore, known as the Duke of York, but he does still officially hold this title - and this is something the Scottish National Party is pressing to revoke.

However, it will not be straightforward.

What would it take for Andrew to be stripped of Dukedom?

Revoking Andrew’s royal titles would require an act of Parliament, which has not yet been enacted, but the government is facing pressure to take this step.

Stephen Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, has put forward an early day motion to express an opinion about the matter in Parliament - although it would be unusual for the Commons to debate it.

He said: "Prince Andrew's titles can only be removed by an act of parliament – therefore this SNP motion is a way to pile pressure on the UK Labour government to bring forward that legislation immediately.”

Mr Flynn added that he also wanted the peerage awarded to Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US who was also friends with Epstein, to be removed.

"I sincerely hope for the sake of all Jeffrey Epstein's victims, that Keir Starmer's government changes course, supports this SNP motion and brings forward legislation to remove Prince Andrew's titles and Peter Mandelson's peerage, immediately.”

The UK government has said that it will not introduce legislation to strip Prince Andrew of his titles, unless there is an intervention from the King.

Andrew gave up his HRH title in 2022 but will always be known as a prince because of his royal birth. His surname, if he needs one, is Mountbatten-Windsor.

Sarah Ferguson has now resorted to her pre marriage name but continues to live with Andrew, whom she split with in 1992 and divorced in 1996.

Labour’s Bridget Phillipson said: "We would be guided by the Royal Family in this and I imagine the royal family would want parliament to continue to dedicate our time to our wider legislative programme, but we will be guided by the monarch.

"It's why we do support the statement that was issued and the action that has been taken. But of course, Prince Andrew holds the title of prince because he is the son of a monarch, and that's the situation that we have."

The King is understood not to have approached parliament about the matter and would be reluctant for the matter to play out in the Commons.

This week it was announced he will be the first monarch in 500 years to pray with the Pope and the King has also visited the scene of the Manchester synagogue attack.