Prince Andrew stripped of ANOTHER honour despite the Queen's united front

Prince Andrew stripped another honour - Prince Andrew and The Queen, Prince Andrew stripped of York title
(Image credit: Getty)

Prince Andrew has been stripped of ANOTHER honour - despite the Queen making a recent united front with her son.

Prince Andrew has been stripped of his Freedom of the City of York after councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour despite the Queen's recent united front with the Duke.

Calls to strip the Duke of York of his title have been made by the city of York, in the wake of his out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in the US. In February, the prince agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexual assault. Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York in a civil case, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.

Prince Andrew and the Queen

(Image credit: Getty)

But while the Queen has put on a united front with her son after reportedly paying the settlement and choosing to snub Prince Charles and William to walk with him to the Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip, held at Westminster Abbey last month, councillors have taken steps to distance the 'disgraced' Prince from their city.

The motion to remove the accolade awarded to Prince Andrew in 1987 was taken at a full council meeting. During the meeting, Labour's Aisling Musson told the meeting, "We owe it to the people of York" to also remove his title."

And while Independent councillor Mark Warters said he supported the "purely symbolic act" of removing the freedom of the city. He added, "It must be stated though that Prince Andrew has not been convicted of any offence in a criminal or civil court."

York Liberal Democrats, said Prince Andrew, who is still in the royal line of succession, had been contacted by the local authority before the meeting to inform him of the motion and according to the BBC, both Buckingham Palace and a spokesperson for the Duke of York have declined to comment.

Previous recipients of freedom of the city include the Duke of Wellington, Winson Churchill, John Barry and Dame Judi Dench. Prince Andrew is said to be the first person to have his freedom honour removed by the city and Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central has backed calls for his title 'The Duke of York' to be relinquished.

Prince Andrew stripped another honour ASCOT, ENGLAND - JUNE 22: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York attend Royal Ascot 2017 at Ascot Racecourse on June 22, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Credit: Getty Images

But the rank of duke can only be removed by an act of Parliament - and this last happened in 1919, when King George V struck off the titles of two Dukes, a prince and a Baron.

Liberal Democrat Darryl Smalley said the government and the Royal Family must "step in to remove his title to finally end Prince Andrew's connection to York" if the prince "fails to do so".

Mr Smalley, the council's executive member for culture, leisure & communities and proposer of the motion, said, "Having been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen, we believe that it is right to remove all links that Prince Andrew still has with our great city.

"I was pleased to see councillors of all parties support this motion and make it clear that it is no longer appropriate for Prince Andrew to represent York and its residents."

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He added, “The next logical step is now for Prince Andrew to do the right thing and relinquish his Duke of York title. If he fails to do so, the Government and Buckingham Palace must step in to remove his title to finally end Prince Andrew's connection to York.”

The Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee and it's expected that Prince Andrew could take part in the celebrations.

Its claimed Prince Charles and Prince William were involved with the decision to strip Prince Andrew of his titles earlier this year after news broke that Prince Andrew had been stripped of his military titles and the use of HRH by the Queen.

The Queen confirmed his previous title stripping on Instagram with a post that read, "With the Queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen. The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”

Meanwhile, Independent Dave Taylor said if Prince Andrew was stripped of his Duke of York title, he would prefer Princess Beatrice to become Duchess of York. "In contrast to her father, she is personable, intelligent and does her homework," he added.

Selina Maycock
Senior Family Writer

Selina is a Senior Family Writer for GoodtoKnow and has more than 16 years years of experience. She specialises in royal family news, including the latest activities of Prince George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie and Lilibet. She also covers the latest government, health and charity advice for families. Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism, and gained her NCTJ and NCE qualifications. During her career, she’s also written for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, and Woman's Weekly as well as Heat magazine, Bang Showbiz - and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. When she's not covering family news, you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories (including award-winning scarecrows!)