Two royal 'positions' Prince Andrew still holds explained as he's stripped of titles
He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten WindsorOn Thursday evening, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Andrew will have all of his royal titles removed.
Andrew will lose his titles of Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and the style “His Royal Highness”. He will also vacate his Windsor home of Royal Lodge.
However, he technically still holds two royal positions despite the news.
Prince Andrew stripped of royals titles
“His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” the palace’s statement read.
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
It closes with the words: “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
For many years, Andrew has faced scrutiny over his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has also been accused of sexual assault by Virginia Giuffre, allegations he has always vehemently denied.
Earlier this month, Andrew announced he would stop using his Duke of York title.
Royal positions Andrew still holds
However, in spite of the new bombshell announcement, it seems Prince Andrew still holds two significant royal positions.
The first of these concerns the line of succession. As the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne, still ranking above Princess Anne.
The official royal family website explains that succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by Parliamentary statute. This means that to remove Andrew from the line of succession would require parliamentary legislation.
However, with Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Harry, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet all ahead of him in the line of succession, it would be incredibly unlikely for Andrew to ever become king.
The other position Andrew retains is Counsellor of State. Counsellors of State are members of the royal family who can carry out royal duties on behalf of the king in the event that he is unable to do so. Duties might include attending Privy Council meetings or signing routine documents.
By law, Counsellors of State include the Sovereign’s spouse and the next four people in the line of succession who are over the age of 21. As such, Andrew remains listed on the royal.uk website as one of the current Counsellors of State.
However, the page explains that “in practice, only working members of the royal family” can carry out this role.
As Andrew stepped back as a working royal in 2019, this rules him out of performing this role.
Read more: Virginia Giuffre’s family reacts to Prince Andrew’s titles being stripped
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