TL;DR
- The Defence Secretary announced that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may lose his honorary rank of vice admiral, following the surrender of his military positions.
- The process for possible removal is being guided by the King, with opinions suggesting the government should avoid legislating on Andrew’s line of succession status.
- Recently stripped of his titles due to connections with Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew will relocate to Sandringham, funded privately by the monarch.
Andrew could be stripped of remaining honorary military title, Defence Secretary says | UK News
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor could be stripped of his honorary rank of vice admiral, the Defence Secretary has said.
Andrew was made a vice admiral on his 55th birthday in 2015 and retained the rank even after giving up his other military positions in 2022.
John Healey told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We’ve seen Andrew surrender the military positions that he’s had and we’re looking now at the one remaining position he has, which is the honorary vice admiral position and, we’ve got a process underway for that.”
Asked what that process is, he said: “We’re being guided by the King and we’re now looking to remove.”
Mr Healey was also asked if the government would legislate to remove Andrew from the line of succession.
He said that is a “matter for the King” but his personal view is “it’s neither here nor there” as Andrew has lost all other of his royal titles.
Meanwhile Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Party chairman, told Trevor Phillips: “Andrew’s 8th in line to succession of the monarchy. Parliament’s got many better things to do than to legislate for something that will never happen.”
The King’s brother was stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles by the monarch over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday.
Now simply known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, he will move from Royal Lodge to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk – with his future accommodation to be privately funded by the monarch.
The biggest embarrassment for the Royals for 250 years
Earlier in October, it was announced Andrew had agreed to stop using his titles but would remain a prince and retain his dukedom ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Giuffre, who took her own life earlier this year, has claimed that – as a teenager – she had sex with Andrew on three occasions after being trafficked by billionaire paedophile Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew has always denied the allegations.
Ms Giuffre’s family hailed the King’s decision to remove Andrew’s titles, saying: “An ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage”.