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Have I Got News For You was forced to pause on Friday evening when Jason Manford delivered some 'breaking news' regarding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. King Charles had made the decision to officially remove his brother's titles on Thursday following Andrew, 65, coming under fire from MPs and facing public disgust over his connections to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, along with claims he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre while he has robustly denied. The BBC's satirical current affairs programme, which is filmed just before going to air, featured Jason Manford in the presenter's chair and he needed to interrupt the show briefly to inform the studio audience of the development. Read more Channel 4 makes big change to show after Andrew has Prince title stripped He announced: "Hold on, hold on, we've got some breaking news. This is the news that Andrew is no longer a prince." The audience erupted in applause at this moment, prompting Jason to respond: "Crikey!", reports the Mirror. Not to be outdone, comedian Paul Merton quipped: "The bad news is he's become King!". Andrew has consistently refuted the accusations made against him. Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Prince Andrew would lose his Royal titles. A Buckingham Palace statement declared: "His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew." Prince Andrew will henceforth be referred to as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His tenancy agreement at Royal Lodge had, until now, afforded him legal grounds to remain in residence. Official notification has been issued requiring him to relinquish the lease and relocate to alternative private quarters. These sanctions are considered essential, despite his continued denial of the accusations levelled 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." Following his announcement to relinquish his titles, Andrew was subsequently caught out for being untruthful about severing ties with the late convicted paedophile Epstein. During his disastrous 2019 BBC Newsnight appearance, he insisted he had ended all communication with Epstein in 2010 - however, correspondence emerged suggesting they remained in touch twelve months afterwards. Within the same interview, Andrew also stated he had no memory of encountering his accuser Ms Giuffre. She brought legal proceedings against him in 2021, which Andrew resolved through an out-of-court settlement reportedly worth £12million, whilst maintaining his innocence. Ms Giuffre took her own life in April this year. Andrew has additionally been instructed to vacate Royal Lodge in Windsor and will relocate to an undisclosed private property on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk at the earliest opportunity. Charles will personally finance Andrew's fresh living arrangements whilst also providing private monetary support for his sibling. Speaking about Andrew's potential next moves now that his princely status has ended, Emily remarked: "I would also say that you have to think of the cottage in Sandringham and the stipend that comes from The King as being, if you like, the Royal equivalent of an NDA. "The last thing that Charles wants right now is to see Andrew write a book like [Harry's] Spare or sell his story to an American TV station, or go off and get himself into a role that allows him to exploit other members of the Royal Family and what he knows about them. "And so, my sense is that there is just the long arm of this private payment being made to Andrew to sort of say, I've got you, but you are in my sights. "There can be no book. There can be no craziness. I mean, it's a very good question of, is he meant to earn his own money? Is he meant to go out and get a job and the sense I'm getting is they'd sort of prefer him not to, at least nothing public, because that then does create a real problem." On the podcast, Emily disclosed that she had spoken to insiders "very close" to The King and Queen. She understood that Prince William was not the main instigator behind the decision to strip Andrew of his style, titles and honours. "I was told last night that it is Prince William who's most concerned about the state of his uncle's mental health," the journalist shared with her The News Agents co-hosts Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall.
