King's decision to strip Andrew of all titles branded 'most dramatic downfall of a royal' as 'firm line drawn'

In a statement released on Thursday, Buckingham Palace confirmed the ex-Prince and Duke of York will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The King said: "These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.

"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."

Delivering his verdict on the King's decision, Mr Palmer told GB News: "It went much further than I thought.

"I was expecting them to announce that he was going to leave Royal Lodge, but I didn't expect the King to take that action at this stage.

"I see this as the most dramatic downfall of a royal since Edward VIII."

Suggesting the removal of Andrew "will not end the questions" about any alleged wrongdoings, he added: "I don't think it will end the questions about Andrew, and Daphne Barak seems to be suggesting she's got more emails yet to reveal.

"I think legislators in the US particularly, but also over here, want further questions answered, so it doesn't end."

Highlighting the His Majesty's decision and his relationship with his brother, the royal commentator stated: "The King has drawn a very firm line under it, as far as the Royal Family is concerned."

Explaining the Parliamentary process which has been initiated to remove Andrew's titles, Mr Palmer said: "There's a guy called David Torrance who works in Parliament, who produced a report on October the 20th that provided some very good backgrounds for this.

"And his report did say that there were other means of removing the prince title.

The dukedom actually is not being extinguished, as I understand it, it's just that the King has found another way of officially removing him from the role of as the peerage. So you could argue it achieves a similar effect."

Pointing out the "one thing" that the Palace "didn't discuss" in their statement, he told GB News: "It put out a statement and there was a bit of a background explanation provided, but as far as I understand it, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne.

"He's still in line in succession, he's still a Councillor of State, who in theory could stand in for the King if the King was away or incapacitated, but the reality is that's never going to happen."

Mr Palmer concluded: "And I think if suddenly we were looking at Andrew Mountbatten Windsor becoming our next King because of sudden deaths or whatever, Parliament would then have to legislate to ensure that he never became King. So I guess in practice, he's out of the picture completely."

GB News understands that King Charles acted swiftly following recent developments, which led to his brother relinquishing the use of his titles and honours as soon and efficiently possible.

The removal process applies to Andrew’s titles of Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and the style "His Royal Highness".

The honours affected are Andrew’s Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.