Sarah Ferguson drops Duchess of York title after Prince Andrew titles stripped

Why did Sarah Ferguson remove her Duchess of York title?

What role did the Epstein scandal play in Andrew's title removal?

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Sarah Ferguson will no longer be known as the Duchess of York on her social media pages.

The former wife of Prince Andrew removed the royal title from her social media, days after Buckingham Palace announced her ex-husband would no longer use his royal titles.

Ferguson has gone by her name professionally for several years, given her divorce from the prince in 1996, though she continued to use Duchess of York as a courtesy title in some capacity.

USA TODAY has reached out to Ferguson's rep for comment.

Andrew was ousted as a senior royal following allegations over his connections to convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the royal title announcement came days before the release of a posthumous memoir from accuser Virginia Giuffre.

Though the former Duke of York continues to deny collaborating with the disgraced sex offender, he said in a statement shared by the palace that he agrees the controversy surrounding him has posed a distraction for the royal family.

Ferguson has not been absent from the fallout, as in September, several charities announced they would cut ties with the former duchess following media reports that she had described Epstein as a "supreme friend" in an email.

Ferguson's spokesperson declined to comment on the charities' actions at the time, but said in a statement to BBC and People: "The Duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies.

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"As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with pedophilia," the statement continued. "She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats."