I’ll admit, I don’t really understand how Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s titles are actually being “removed” by King Charles. It seems that in a technical sense, the royal titles are not actually being removed per se, and some other process is happening. According to the BBC, Andrew’s titles (prince, duke, earl and baron) are being removed by King Charles “sending Royal warrants to the Lord Chancellor to officially remove them.” Meaning the monarch can just send a letter saying “this guy isn’t a prince anymore” and everyone’s like “sure, whatever, that sounds legit.” Personally, I think the lack of clarity about the process being used to remove titles adds to the sense that all of these people are making it up as they go along. They’ve let daylight in on the magic of monarchy, and it turns out ALL of these titles are made-up and someone can be un-royaled with some paperwork. Funny that. Meanwhile, it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to remove Andrew from the line of succession either. Keir Starmer doesn’t back the effort, but various MPs are trying to make it happen:
Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from his own MPs to remove Andrew from the royal line of succession amid fears of a possible constitutional crisis. The former prince is currently eighth in line to the throne and only an Act of Parliament could prevent him ever becoming King.
Sir Keir has so far resisted pressure to alter the royal succession, with Downing Street saying there were “no plans” to do so.
Although it is highly unlikely that Andrew could ever ascend the throne, it is not impossible. The three royals directly ahead of him in the line of succession are Prince Harry and his children, who, as a young family in America, are unlikely candidates to serve as a monarch. The other four are the Prince of Wales and his children.
One Labour MP said that in the event of an “unimaginable tragedy” it was still possible that Andrew could become king, which was something the British people “would not put up with”. A Labour minister also said they backed removing Andrew from the succession “in principle”.
While there was a rush of this kind of reporting in the wake of Andrew’s demotion or whatever we’re calling it, I get the sense that Buckingham Palace is telling their loyal stenographers in the press that the whole thing is done now and people need to move on. Meaning, Starmer and the MPs have got their marching orders too – stop hassling the poor king about his degenerate brother! Stop demanding that horrible man be removed from the line of succession! Stop asking questions about the money or the security or anything else!
One more crazy thing – while the palace is clearly trying to change the subject now, they also went to the government to get Andrew removed as honorary Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, a position I did not know he *still* had. I thought he had to give up all of his military positions back in 2019, following the Emily Maitlis interview?? Well, that was a lie, because he’s still Vice Admiral and he’s been Vice Admiral this whole time and now they’re taking that away too. Looks like the king will take up the government’s time on certain issues but not others.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York chat at the Royal Albert Hall for the Annual Festival of Remembrance on November 7, 2015 in London, England.,Image: 513691348, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York chat at the Royal Albert Hall for the Annual Festival of Remembrance on November 7, 2015 in London, England.,Image: 513691478, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – **FILE PHOTOS** Questioned for his connection with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew “puts an end to his public commitments.” The Prince recently discussed Epstein in a BBC interview and has subsequently been dropped by businesses and charities affiliated with him in an effort to distance themselves from the negative publicity. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York BACKGRID USA 20 NOVEMBER 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – **FILE PHOTOS** Questioned for his connection with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew “puts an end to his public commitments.” The Prince recently discussed Epstein in a BBC interview and has subsequently been dropped by businesses and charities affiliated with him in an effort to distance themselves from the negative publicity. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York BACKGRID USA 20 NOVEMBER 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – **FILE PHOTOS** Questioned for his connection with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew “puts an end to his public commitments.” The Prince recently discussed Epstein in a BBC interview and has subsequently been dropped by businesses and charities affiliated with him in an effort to distance themselves from the negative publicity. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York BACKGRID USA 20 NOVEMBER 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Andrew is spotted taking his hands off the steering wheel while driving in Windsor, England. Pictured: Prince Andrew BACKGRID USA 19 DECEMBER 2020 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Duke of York, Prince Andrew continues to get probed about his involvement with the Jeffery Epstein case. Pictured: Prince Andrew At The Commonwealth Institute when he visited a photographic exhibition in London England. **SHOT ON May 4th, 1984** BACKGRID USA 18 DECEMBER 2020 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Sandringham, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of the Royal family attend the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, UK. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York BACKGRID USA 25 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Ah, so the titles are made up and the positions don’t matter!
Pretty much.
The fairytale punishment continues!!
So, there’s that weird rule about married-ins, or others having to curtesy (sp?) or bow to the Queen’s children if their spouse isn’t there. (or something like that)
This came about so as Princess Anne moved down the line of succession, she would not have to curtesy to Kate, for instance.
I wonder if no one in the family will bow or curtesy to Andrew now.
There’s the famous story about Andrew at a weekend house party: He entered a room and no one stood. So he said, “Let’s try that again, shall we?” And left and re-entered.
I remember that story! There was also chatter about Kate having to curtsy to the Yorkies before her marriage, which those girls found terribly amusing & Kate found humiliating – hence the not-so-fond feelings there. Kate plays a long game & in time she’ll retaliate.
Kate and Pippa made sure to be incredibly mean to the much younger York girls (6-8 years younger) on several occasions. There was a fashion show incident and then some prank on Beatrice for the only charity event Kate ever did.
We are not going to pretend Kate was a victim of anything with those two. She did all these things even before she was engaged.
I can see their conundrum. If we start punishing royals for crimes plebs would do hard time for, where does it end? Payoffs? Embezzlement? Canoodling with oppressive regimes?
Don’t forget domestic violence
To remove someone from the Line of Succession is a logistical nightmare, it would require legislation from every country that retains the King as monarch so it’s never going to happen.
This is true, but just highlights how dumb the whole system is.
It’s so ridiculous. If he can still be King, what’s the point of stripping titles? 8th in line? Absurd.
No wonder Charles is upset about William flying in the same helicopter as his entire family. If something tragic occurred and Harry became next in line/King he most likely would abdicate, and he probably wouldn’t want a King Archie regency either. Which would then go on to Andrew who would LOVE to be King and have it all anyway, after everything his mother, brother and nephew took away from him.
With all the capricious behaviors and very costly upkeep of this huge family, I cannot understand how any UK citizens still want a monarchy. This particular clan is merely the latest beneficiary of the outrageous privileges won over many centuries by wars, thefts, fratricides & other murders. Lose a battle in the1400s? Oops, new king better kill the offspring of the old one. Need more money? Confiscate church properties. Reward your besties by giving them large land holdings previously owned by others, impoverishing the former owners. Marry cousins whenever possible to contain the gene pool. Some “common” blood has been introduced in the last 30 or 40 years minimizing risks of defective genes passing down, but continuing to reward one family this way is beyond bizarre.
Believe me, many of us would be more than happy to do away with the entire upper classes, starting with the so called ‘royals’. It’s completely disingenuous, offensive and plain wrong to hold anybody ‘above’ others purely based on who they are descended from or what family they are married into, honestly. And then for the landed gentry to hoard so much wealth and land in such a small landmass (and mainly in England) is absolutely disgusting. Republic for me please!
Unfortunately for the Windsors the rot still permeates and the world still smells it. While they may have quieted the British press for now, conversations and analyses continue globally, at the grassroots level especially among young people in the Commonwealth. The Windsor brand image – its remnants from colonialism, slavery, racism, corruption, cover ups – is not shielded as it once was by QEII. The erosion of its mystique and majesty intensified after QEII died and escalated last month culminating with the ‘removal’ of Andrew’s titles. 🤷🏽♀️
Does he have to stay in so his Kids get to stay in too ?
Let me provide clarification. The titles are like Andrew’s HRH its there but he “can’t use it”. This is just another fake punishment. The only thing that’s actually changed for Andrew is his address. To remove titles you have to go through Parliament which Chuck is not doing. By striking the Dukedom from the Peerage role you are just saying that no one in that country can refer to him as a Duke or a Prince anymore in person or on any documentation. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t still have all the titles. That’s why Andrew’s daughters are still Princesses.
More than letting the light in they’re letting the cat out of the bag about how Willy was going to “strip the titles” from the Sussex family, why they intentionally cause confusion about Meghan’s last name being Sussex and why they slow walked government papers like passports when Harry and Meghan wanted the whole family to have the same surname of Sussex. Its kind of hard to ban the Sussex title in England if its also their family surname on all legal documentation.
Willy wouldn’t have been able to actually strip the Sussex title but the British press would have acted like he did just like they’re pretending with Andrew.
That makes a lot of sense. There was already a lot of back and forth- Charles was dithering over removing their titles.
Also adds to why Archie and Lili weren’t promptly added to the line of succession page
In 2025, all Charles has really done is just update the Royal Style Guide. The press and PR people used to call him Prince Andrew, now they have to go with Andrew M-W. He still gets to “keep” his title, whatever that means.
@B, yes, Andrew just can’t be referred to as the Duke of York in official documents, but he is not been stripped of his titles:
“Under the terms of the Royal Warrant of 1 June 2004 any person who succeeds to a Peerage must prove his or her succession and be placed on the Roll, otherwise that person may not be legally recognised as a Peer in official documents.”
https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/roll-of-the-peerage
First, Charles does not have the authority to remove anyone by warrant from the role of peerage. The whole point of the Roll was to make sure that all proven peerage titles and current holders thereof are included on the Roll..
The power to strip someone of their titles is clearly vested with parliament.
So, now that this illegal maneuver by Charles appears to have been sanctioned, I’m wondering if they’ll try to remove Andrew from the line of succession by Royal warrant as well?
VERY interesting reading from a recent research paper issued by the library of the UK House of Commons. While long, and I just skinned the document, this appears to agree that. Ducal and subsidiary titles may only be removed by Parliament. It also appears to assume that the “titles” that Charles started the process of removing are only the HRH and princely title by letter patent.
It is a very good primer for anyone that wants to do a deep dive into the granting and removal of titles, and the line of succession.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10370/
“Media reporting suggests the King has also instructed the Lord Chancellor to remove the Duke of York from the Roll of the Peerage, again under the prerogative. As the 2004 Royal Warrant did not include a unilateral power of removal, it is not yet clear how this has been given effect.”
LOL, this is clearly pushback from the house of Commons! This was issued yesterday. I wonder whether the British press will address this research paper.
The entire RF has been exposed as a bunch of grifters. It’s very satisfying to see all of them running for cover, as they should.
Is marrying a Catholic (or converting to catholicism) still cause for removing someone from the line of succession? The reason is because the monarch is still head of the Church, which at least makes some sense. However, is there any other reason to remove someone from the line of succession? I know the process is that consent from all realms is needed, but issue is a reason to start the process. I believe there are about a couple of hundred people technically in the line of succession to the British throne.
I think now you can be married to a Catholic without losing your place in the line of succession, unless you convert to catholicism yourself. Also, for your children to remain in the line of succession they must be raised in the official religion, and not catholicism.
Someone correct me, please, if my understanding of the change “allowing” people to marry Catholics is incorrect
A British royal can now marry a Catholic without losing his/her place in the line of succession. However, a Catholic still cannot become monarch and any children of the monarch must be raised as Protestant.
As dramatic as the tabloids are about the royals, it IS an interesting, and not entirely unlikely, possibility that Andrew is almost king.
If, in the next 5-10 years, Charles dies of cancer and Will goes down in a helicopter crash, the next king is either:
-A teenage George
-Harry returning
-Andrew(!)
There’s no way Will lets Andrew (or wimpy Edward) anywhere near the crown, and I can’t imagine Harry even considers giving up his life to come back, so Anne better stay close to that phone. She’s about his only acceptable option!
Not that I imagine he would want to, but can we allow ourselves to imagine for just a minute how transformative and a true force for good Harry and Meghan could be as British monarchs?? I’d love to do away with the entire class system/royals, but THAT I’d love to see.
The monarchy is a ridiculous anachronism.
And, unrelatedly, LOL at Willy’s glasses. They look like NHS specs.