Britain's Prince Andrew, left, and Britain's King Charles III leave after the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral in London on Sept. 16. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, file)

No one is bigger than the monarchy. Not even the king’s brother.

In the end, that reality spelled the end of Andrew’s life as a prince of the realm.

As details of Andrew’s links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued to dribble out and Parliament raised questions about his rent-free residence at a sprawling country house near Windsor Castle, King Charles III moved Thursday to shield the monarchy from any further revelations.

In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace, the king said he had taken steps to strip his brother of all his titles and honors, including the one he has held since birth — prince. From now on, the scandal-plagued British royal will be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

Andrew is also being forced to move out of Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where he has lived for more than 20 years.

“The monarchy needed to draw the thickest line they could between Andrew and the rest of the royal family,” said Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London. “And he’s precisely done that.”

The king’s decision came after the announcement earlier this month that Andrew had agreed to stop using the titles failed to stanch the flood of tawdry stories that threaten to weaken support for the monarchy. Far from ending the media frenzy, the earlier move spurred calls from some members of Parliament that Andrew be formally stripped of his titles and evicted from Royal Lodge.

That raised the prospect of a parliamentary debate on Andrew’s conduct that would have subjected the royal family to even more unwanted publicity.

Andrew’s disgrace comes as Charles, who is 76 and undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, works to resolve stubborn problems and buttress the foundations of the monarchy for his elder son, Prince William, to inherit.

“This, I think, was a very clear statement of what had to be done to get the house in order (now) and also going forward for the future,” said George Gross, a royal expert at King’s College London. “That makes life easier for Prince William … I think that’s also part of it. But it felt inevitable.”

While the king’s decision may help shield the monarchy from the fallout from the scandal, it won’t end Andrew’s problems.

The latest round of stories about Andrew was triggered by the publication of a memoir written by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex with Andrew when she was 17. Giuffre, an American living in Australia, took her own life earlier this year.

Her brother, Sky Roberts, on Thursday lauded his sister’s long fight to expose Epstein and Andrew, but continued to call for the king’s brother to be prosecuted.

Andrew has repeatedly denied having sex with Giuffre or committing any crimes.