The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Ed Davey, stated this Friday, February 20, that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s status in the line of succession to the British throne should be reassessed, but did not clearly call for his immediate removal from the list. “The most important thing now is that the police can continue their work, acting without fear or favor. But obviously this is an issue that parliament will have to consider in due course; naturally, the monarchy will want to ensure that he can never become king.”
Mountbatten-Windsor – arrested on Thursday 19 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, likely due to his links to Jeffrey Epstein – remains eighth in line to the throne despite all royal titles being stripped. In front of him are William, Prince of Wales and eldest son of Charles III, his three sons, Harry, the monarch’s youngest son, followed by his two sons, only then does Andrew appear.
A shadow minister from the Conservative Party said that the former prince should voluntarily renounce his place in the line of succession to the throne. “I think it would be the right thing to do. Of course, if he is found guilty, Parliament would have every right to act to remove him from the line of succession,” Andrew Bowie told GB News. “But let’s remember, he hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet – he hasn’t been charged with anything yet. So we have to let the police investigation run its course and I think we should all act accordingly later.”
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Stephen Flynn is also in favor of this measure. “The public will rightly be outraged that a man who lied about being friends with Epstein is still on his way to becoming head of state,” he said in statements to The Sun.
A YouGov poll published this Friday, February 20, shows that 82% of Britons believe that Andrew should be removed from the line of succession, while 6% disagreed and 12% said they did not know. In terms of gender, 81% of men said they were in favor of their removal from the line of succession, two points less than women. As for political color, the removal of Charles III’s brother is supported by 80% of conservatives who responded to this survey, 88% of Labor, 89% of Liberal Democrats, 80% of reform UK populists and 86% of the Greens.
To be removed from the line of succession, a law must first be passed in the British parliament. Legislation that still needs, according to the BBC, the support of all Commonwealth countries that have Charles III as head of state, as it will also affect their lines of succession.
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