Prince Andrew gives up royal titles: The final straw for a King whose brother had become poisonous

Not in a lifetime has there been such a downfall of a duke.

Prince Andrew, once a war hero heartthrob, has given up his Duke of York title , under growing public pressure and a King who has lost his patience.

A century after the last royal dukedoms were stripped from Britain’s declared enemies in World War I, Andrew has chosen to stop using his own.

It follows a conflagration of sex assault claims, a friendship with a human-trafficking paedophile and a relentless drip of Chinese spy allegations that became intolerable for palace and public.

An email from 2011 finally sealed his fate: five words Andrew sent to Jeffrey Epstein after the paedophile financier had already been jailed: “We’re in this together.”

The revelation this week blew apart his claims that he had cut ties with