After the British king's younger brother, Andrew, had his titles stripped, a U.S. congressman called for him to appear before Congress for questioning.

【By Chen Sijia, Observer Net】On October 30 local time, the Royal Palace of the United Kingdom issued a statement saying that King Charles III of the United Kingdom has officially initiated the procedure to strip his younger brother, Prince Andrew, of his titles, honors, and dignities, and informed him to move out of the royal residence. Andrew is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He has been embroiled in scandal due to his close relationship with the late American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), on November 1, at least four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee called for Prince Andrew to testify before the U.S. Congress regarding the Epstein case. Chris Bryant, the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, previously stated that if the U.S. requested him to be questioned, Prince Andrew should cooperate.

U.S. Representative Suhhas Subramanian said that several plaintiffs in the Epstein case have mentioned Prince Andrew's name. If he wants to clear his name, he should appear for questioning. Subramanian said, "He obviously knows what happened, we just hope he comes forward and tells us what he knows."

He pointed out that Prince Andrew could privately appear before the Oversight Committee through a remote connection with his lawyer present.

Representative Raji Krishnamurthy also addressed Prince Andrew: "We want to know what really happened, not only to give justice to the victims, but also to prevent such situations from happening again. Come forward to testify in the U.S. Congress to clear your name, don't wait for a subpoena." However, he also admitted that it would be difficult to enforce the subpoena since Prince Andrew is not in the United States.

UK Minister of State for Trade Policy Chris Bryant previously told BBC that if Prince Andrew was required to testify by the U.S., he should go to the U.S. to answer questions about the Epstein case, "just like any ordinary person".

Prince Andrew is the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the younger brother of the current King of the United Kingdom, Charles III. He was made Duke of York in 1986. He has been involved in scandals due to his close relationship with the late American billionaire and sex offender Epstein.

Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III, Visual China

In November 2019, Prince Andrew denied during an interview having had sexual relations with underage girls at Epstein's mansion, and insisted on cutting all ties with Epstein after December 2010. However, recently revealed emails showed that Prince Andrew remained in contact with Epstein as late as February 2011.

In 2011, one of the victims of the Epstein case, Virginia Giuffre, first exposed photos of herself with Prince Andrew and Maxwell, a associate of Epstein, during an interview. In 2019, Giuffre described in a BBC program how she was sexually trafficked to Prince Andrew by Epstein. In 2021, Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew in a New York federal court, accusing him of having had sexual relations with her three times when she was 17 years old in 2001.

In 2022, due to being deeply involved in related scandals, Prince Andrew lost his military titles and royal patronage status. That same year, although he consistently denied having had sexual relations with Giuffre, he still agreed to a private settlement with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount.

This April, Giuffre passed away in Australia, and her family stated that she died by "suicide". In 2019, during the litigation, she publicly declared that she would "never commit suicide in any way" and expressed that "there are too many evil people who want me to remain silent". Therefore, many people questioned the claim of Giuffre's "suicide".

On October 19, the UK Sunday Mail exposed that Prince Andrew had asked the police to dig up Giuffre's personal information, attempting to defame her. There is currently no evidence that the police followed Prince Andrew's request. The Metropolitan Police said they are actively investigating the allegations.

With increasing public pressure, Prince Andrew issued a statement on October 17 through the Royal Palace, agreeing to give up his title of Duke of York. On October 30, the Royal Palace issued a statement saying that King Charles III has officially initiated the procedure to strip Prince Andrew of his titles, honors, and dignity. Afterward, he will be known as "Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor" and will move to a private residence.

BBC reported that the titles stripped from Prince Andrew include "Prince", "Duke of York", "Earl of Inverness", and "Baron of Killyleagh". He will no longer enjoy the title of "His Royal Highness", and his honors of Knight of the Garter and Knight of the Victoria Cross will also be revoked. Prince Andrew did not object to the decision of the Royal Palace, and his two daughters will retain their princess status.

Analysts believe that the decision may have been pushed by the Prince of Wales, William. "William is about to go to Brazil for a very important visit, and the King and Queen's recent visit to Vatican almost got overshadowed by the scandal involving Andrew, which cannot continue to happen," said one analyst.

CNN pointed out that this is the "biggest crisis" faced by the British royal family since the abdication crisis of Edward VIII in 1936. Although King Charles III has taken measures to "exile" his brother, the scandal has dealt a heavy blow to the British monarchy. Anti-monarchist activists criticized the royal family for protecting Prince Andrew for years.

Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy group Republic, said, "Stripping a few ridiculous titles cannot answer serious accusations of sexual crimes and corruption. This is not a firm stance taken by Charles and William, but rather a way for Charles and William to protect their positions by keeping as much distance as possible from Andrew."

Smith believes, "We need to see Andrew face legal consequences, and we need to ensure that royal family members cannot be above the law."

Stephen Bates, a columnist for The Guardian and former royal journalist, also criticized the privileges and tolerance of the British royal family that led to Andrew's downfall. Photos of Andrew with Giuffre and Maxwell were exposed as early as 2011, but the British royal family took no action. Even after Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronage in 2022, he continued to appear prominently in public events.

Bates pointed out that it was only after the situation escalated that the British royal family took action to try to maintain the monarchy. "Perhaps the institutional damage to the monarchy is limited for now... but ultimately, privilege, selfishness, and laziness will lead to the death of the monarchy."

The Daily Telegraph analyzed that the decision of the British royal family to cut ties with Andrew is intended to gain public support to maintain the British monarchy. Public opinion polls show that over the past four decades, the British public's view of the monarchy has been changing. In September of this year, only 51% of British respondents believed the monarchy was important to Britain, far below the 86% in 1983.

The survey showed that 76% of respondents aged 55 and older supported the continuation of the monarchy. However, among those aged 16 to 34, 59% supported a elected head of state.

Alexis Scholes, Director of the National Centre for Social Research, said, "Support for the monarchy is at its lowest recorded level, and more people are beginning to question its future. However, when asked directly to make a choice, most members of the public still prefer to keep the monarchy rather than change it to an elected head of state. This tension between declining importance and continued preference will play a key role in the discussion about the role of the monarchy in the coming years."

This article is an exclusive article by Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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