AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE on Buckingham Palace to strip Prince Andrew of his titles and for him to leave his Windsor residence, Britain’s King Charles began a formal process to do just that yesterday.

The soon-to-be-former Prince Andrew had already given up some honours earlier this month ahead of the publication of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.

He is now to be known as Mr Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and formal notice has been served to surrender the lease on his home on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The moves comes as Andrew remains under intense scrutiny over his relationship with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

It is understood that Andrew will move to a property on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, which will be funded privately by Charles, “as soon as practicable”.

York Cottage On the Sandringham Estate, one of the properties Andrew could move into Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Its vast surrounding estate includes 16,000 acres of farmland, 3,500 acres of woodland and 150 properties.

For more than 20 years, Andrew has lived in the 30-room Royal Lodge on the grounds of the Windsor estate.

The Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

And despite being divorced from Sarah Ferguson, Andrew has lived with his ex-wife at the Royal Lodge since 2008.

Andrew and Ferguson married in 1986 and divorced in 1996 but are said to “seen like they are still a married couple”.

However, a friend of Andrew and Ferguson reportedly told The Sun that the pair would go their separate ways should they be forced out of the Royal Lodge, on which Andrew had a 75-year lease.

The friend told The Sun that it was “incredible they are willing to go their own separate ways” and that it “indicates they have been under immense strain this year and need a break from one another”.

It was reported that Andrew would seek to live in Frogmore Cottage, while Ferguson would angle for Adelaide Cottage if they were evicted from Royal Lodge.

Frogmore Cottage Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Frogmore Cottage is the former home of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, while Adelaide Cottage will be vacated by Prince William and Kate Middleton next month.

William and Kate are due to move to Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom listed residence in Windsor Great Park.

Forest Lodge Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The source further told The Sun that the pair had set their eyes on two properties instead of one because Frogmore Cottage would be “too small” for both Andrew and Sarah.

A source also reportedly told The Sun that Ferguson “feels like she deserves a royal home to see out her years”.

However, royal insiders have said that Ferguson will be “left to fend for herself, with no offer made to house her”.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that if the pair were given two separate homes, “there’d be outrage”.

“They’re still living in a rather weird fantasy world. She’s not been a working royal since 1996 – the idea that should get anything on the Crown Estate… it doesn’t matter what she wants, she is getting out of touch with reality as he has so obviously been.”

Meanwhile, fellow royal commentator Jennie Bond last week said the alleged request for two homes “beggars belief”, and that they two are “grown-ups with their own money and resources.”

She added: “They should be made to fend for themselves and not rely on the King and the goodwill of the Crown Estate.

“You have to ask yourself whether Andrew and Sarah are completely deaf to public opinion. There is genuine outrage from the public and, indeed several prominent members of Parliament about the fact that they have lied about their friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

“And yet they seem to think they are entitled to not just one, but two, magnificent homes in the extremely royal surroundings of Windsor Great Park, almost in the shadow of the Castle itself. It is an audacious demand.”

Last month, a number of charities have severed ties with Ferguson after it emerged that she sent a message to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein describing him as a “supreme friend”.

The Sun newspaper reported that the duchess “humbly apologised” to Epstein for linking him to paedophilia in the media, describing him as “steadfast” and “generous”.

Her spokesman said it was sent “in the context of advice the duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats”.

The email stemmed from a 2011 interview with the Evening Standard in which she apologised for accepting £15,000 from the sex offender.

-With additional reporting from Press Association