Prince Andrew is expected to give evidence via video link in December, in criminal proceedings that followed an alleged threat made against him while he was walking his dogs near Sandringham. In this case, Andrew is the alleged victim and a witness — not a defendant. Royal Central

The trial is the latest in a procession of legal and constitutional events that have steadily stripped Andrew of his public role. In November 2025, King Charles III signed Letters Patent — the formal instrument by which a monarch grants, or here withdraws, a style or title — removing Andrew's princely title. Andrew then issued a personal statement announcing he was giving up his remaining titles, including the Duke of York. BBC News

In February 2026, BBC News reported that Andrew had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. King Charles, asked about his brother's arrest, said "the law must take its course." Reuters Reuters

Within days of that arrest, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had moved out of Royal Lodge, the 30-room residence on the Windsor estate he had occupied under a lease from the Crown Estate — the property portfolio whose surplus revenue funds the Sovereign Grant. Buckingham Palace had said the move would happen in early 2026. BBC News

The same month, the UK was reported to be considering removing Andrew from the line of succession — the statutory order, set most recently by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, determining who inherits the throne — over his Epstein ties. WUFT Earlier in February, the Prime Minister said Andrew should testify before the United States Congress over Epstein. Reuters

What makes the December proceedings different from everything that came before is the role Andrew plays in them. He is not facing charges or giving evidence about his own conduct. He is a witness to an alleged crime committed against him.

That distinction matters because every previous court-adjacent event involving Andrew — the civil settlement with Virginia Giuffre, the arrest, the calls for congressional testimony — placed him on the defensive side of the docket. This time, the machinery of the court is asking him to describe what happened to him.

The Palace has not commented publicly on the December proceedings. Household statements on Andrew's status over the past year have been issued through Buckingham Palace; engagements and movements are recorded in the Court Circular, the daily official record of royal activity.

For a reader trying to keep the sequence straight: the title was removed by royal instrument in November 2025, the personal statement followed, the arrest came in February 2026, the move from Royal Lodge came within days of that arrest, and now a December date has been set for Andrew to give evidence in a case where the alleged offence was directed at him. Each step has been a separate, documented event.