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The Duke's exit from the last vestiges of royal life has not only altered his path - it's creating waves through his immediate relatives too.

Fergie's Title Change

His ex-wife has now surrendered her ducal status and will simply be known as Sarah Ferguson.

For Sarah, sixty-six, the transition will be the most apparent.

Throughout this period, she has maintained the honorary royal post-marital designation Sarah, York Duchess. Currently, she returns to her maiden name of Ferguson.

"She will have lost a certain prestige over this," noted one royal commentator. "She definitely utilizes the title – even her social media profile is @SarahTheDuchess."

But the loss of her title may affect her much less than the controversy she's facing separately about her own connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

Recently, several charities removed her as ambassador after an email from 2011 showed that she called Epstein her "greatest ally" and appeared to express regret for her public criticism of him.

Professional Endeavors and Charity Work

Separate from her philanthropy, Ferguson also has various business ventures.

And these, too, are more likely to be affected by the Epstein controversy than any alteration in status, says one royal commentator.

But Ferguson has been a remarkable endure in royal circles. She's kept recovering strongly.

"She's the supreme perseverer and expert at transforming," said one monarchy writer.

The Daughters

For the couple's offspring, Beatrice, thirty-seven, and Eugenie, thirty-five, there's no official alteration.

They continue to be referred to as royal princesses, which they have been granted since birth.

Additionally there is no change to the royal succession order.

Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne, followed by his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth position respectively.

But in reality their standing are "low down" and will likely become even more remote as time goes on.

Future Prospects

The princesses are also currently non-working royals, and while they do sometimes take on roles – The younger princess was recently named as a mentor for the King's Foundation program – commentators also say they "don't envision a world" in which they would advance into royal duties.

"As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there's an understanding of the reality that this controversy doesn't involve them, and it's unjust for it to affect them directly in the independent lives they are building for themselves," explains one monarchy analyst.

"The princesses are most unfortunate affected parties, they've had to suffer in silence and have been dignified in their reserve," states another royal author.

Final Impact

Ultimately, there seems to be minimal uncertainty that the individual who will be most affected by these developments will be the Duke himself.

For someone who always liked the trappings of royalty, the pomp and the ceremony, the loss of his titles is deeply humiliating.

Therefore lacking those, on a personal level, will really matter.