Tag: Prince Andrew

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Australia, New Zealand back axing Andrew from succession

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government was writing to the Commonwealth realms that it would back the removal for former prince Andrew from the line of royal succession.

Albanese said he had been in touch with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the former royal who is being investigated for alleged misconduct in public office, after new revelations of his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Australia likes being first and we have made sure that everyone knows what our position is and we’ll be writing today to the other realm countries as well, informing them of our position,” Albanese told public broadcaster ABC.

Albanese told reporters that Australians were “disgusted” by the “grave” revelations. 

“King Charles has said that the law must now take its full course. There must be a full, fair and proper investigation. And that needs to occur,” he added.

Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s office said it would also back such a move, in a statement to media on Tuesday. 

“The bottom line is no one is above the law, and once that investigation is closed, should the UK government decide to remove him from the line of succession, that is something we would support,” Luxon told reporters after the statement was released.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, is the third child of late Queen Elizabeth II.

He is currently eighth in the royal line of succession, behind Prince William; William’s children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis; William’s brother Prince Harry; and Harry’s children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Last week, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential government documents while in public office. The allegations originate from documents released by the US Department of Justice as part of the so-called Epstein Files.

The UK Police released Mountbatten-Windsor “under investigation” after 11 hours in custody but the arrest itself was unprecedented in modern British history.

Mountbatten Windsor has denied any wrongdoing over his ties to Epstein, having been named by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre in her posthumous memoir, but has not responded to the latest allegations.

In response to the investigation, the British government said it was considering introducing legislation to ensure the former prince could never be king. The Commonwealth realms would also have to consent to the move for a formal removal. (DW)

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Former Prince Andrew arrested and held for hours on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein

The former Prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment.

It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years.

King Charles III, whose late mother lived by the motto “never complain, never explain,” took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest of his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,’’ the king said. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’

The Thames Valley Police force said Mountbatten-Windsor was released Thursday evening, about 11 hours after he was detained at his home in eastern England. He was photographed in a car leaving the station near his home on the royal Sandringham Estate.

Police said he was released under investigation, meaning he has neither been charged nor exonerated. Police said they had finished searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s home, but officers were still searching his former residence near Windsor Castle.

The police force, which covers areas west of London, including Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, said Thursday that a man in his 60s from Norfolk in eastern England, had been arrested and was in custody. Police did not identify the suspect, in line with standard procedures in Britain.

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, moved to the king’s private estate in Norfolk after he was evicted from his longtime home near the castle earlier this month.

Police previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, in 2010, when the former prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. Justice Department late last month along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein.

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,’’ Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time,” he added.

Police also said they were searching two properties.

Earlier in the day, pictures circulated online that appeared to show unmarked police cars at Wood Farm, Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, with plainclothes officers gathering outside.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his association with Epstein.

The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the prince in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.

Still, Giuffre’s family praised the arrest, saying that their “broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.”

The family added: “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

“This is the most spectacular fall from grace for a member of the royal family in modern times,” said Craig Prescott, a royal expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, who compared it in severity to the crisis sparked by Edward VIII’s abdication to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

“And it may not be over yet,’’ Prescott added.

Thursday’s arrest came a day after the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it had created a coordination group to assist forces across the UK that are assessing whether Epstein and his associates committed crimes in Britain. In addition to the concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor ’s correspondence, documents released by the U.S. suggest Epstein may have used his private jet to traffic women to and from Britain.

The documents also rocked British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to fight off questions about his judgment after the papers revealed that Peter Mandelson, the man he appointed ambassador to the U.S., had a longer and closer relationship with Epstein than was previously disclosed.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service has said it is investigating allegations of misconduct in public office related to Mandelson’s own correspondence with Epstein. Mandelson was fired as ambassador to the U.S. in September. (JapanToday)

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UK’s Prince Andrew gives up royal title

The UK’s Prince Andrew Friday renounced his title of Duke of York under pressure from his brother King Charles, amid further revelations about his ties to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I will… no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me,” Andrew, 65, said in a bombshell announcement.

He said his decision came after discussions with the head of state, King Charles III.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first,” Andrew said in a statement, sent out by Buckingham Palace.

He again denied all allegations of wrongdoing, but said: “We have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.”

Andrew, who stepped back from public life in 2019 amid the Epstein scandal, will remain a prince, as he is the second son of the late queen Elizabeth II.

But he will no longer hold the title of Duke of York that she had conferred on him.

UK media reported that he would also give up membership of the prestigious Order of the Garter, the most senior knighthood in the British honours system which dates back to 1348.

Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will also no longer use the title of Duchess of York, although his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie remain princesses and it is thought that Friday’s move will not affect their status.

The disgraced royal has become a source of deep embarrassment for his brother Charles, following a devastating 2019 TV interview in which Andrew defended his friendship with the late billionaire paedophile Epstein.

In the interview, he vowed he had cut ties in 2010 with Epstein, who was disgraced after an American woman, Virginia Giuffre, accused him of using her as a sex slave.

But in a reported exchange which emerged in UK media this week, Andrew told the convicted sex offender in 2011 that they were “in this together” when a photo of the prince with his arm around Giuffre was published.

But he added that the two would “play together soon”.

Andrew was stripped of his military titles in 2022 and shuffled off into retirement after Giuffre accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

New allegations emerged this week in Giuffre’s posthumous memoir in which she wrote that Andrew had behaved as if having sex with her was his “birthright”. (Vanguard)