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The Duke's removal from the final remnants 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 now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson.

For Sarah, 66, the transition will be the most apparent.

For all these years, she has maintained the honorary royal divorcee title Sarah, Duchess of York. Now, she reverts to her birth name of Ferguson.

"She has lost a bit of cachet over this," noted one royal commentator. "She certainly does use the title – including her Twitter bio is @TheDuchessSarah."

But the loss of her title may affect her much less than the controversy she's dealing with independently about her own links with the convicted financier.

Last month, several charities removed her as patron after an email from over a decade ago showed that she referred to Epstein her "greatest ally" and appeared to express regret for her negative comments of him.

Business Ventures and Philanthropy

Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has various business ventures.

And these, too, are more probable to be impacted by the Epstein scandal than any alteration in status, says one royal commentator.

But Ferguson has been a great survivor in royal circles. She's kept bouncing back.

"She is the ultimate survivor and expert at transforming," said one monarchy writer.

The Princesses

For the couple's two daughters, Beatrice, thirty-seven, and Eugenie, 35, there's no official alteration.

They continue to be referred to as princesses, which they have been entitled to since their birth.

There is also no change to the line of succession.

The prince stays eighth position to the throne, succeeded by his children Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth place respectively.

But in practice their positions are "distant" and will likely become even more remote as years pass.

Coming Opportunities

Beatrice and Eugenie are also presently non-working royals, and while they occasionally take on roles – The younger princess was recently announced as a advisor for the monarch's charity network – commentators also suggest they "don't envision a world" in which they would advance into official responsibilities.

"Regarding Beatrice and Eugenie are concerned, I think there's an appreciation of the fact that this scandal isn't about them, and it's unjust for it to affect them personally in the separate paths they are building for themselves," says one monarchy analyst.

"The princesses are particularly unlucky victims, they've had to endure quietly and have been composed in their reserve," states another royal author.

Final Impact

In the end, there seems to be little doubt that the individual who will be most affected by these developments will be the Duke himself.

For a man who consistently enjoyed the trappings of royalty, the pomp and the pageantry, the relinquishment of his honors is profoundly embarrassing.

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